Connecticut Forum -Misinformation
Finding the Truth

With great anticipation, the Global Studies group of students walked towards the Bushnell Theater entrance; curious ideas of what the night’s misinformation forum would bring bounced between students. As a group we arrived at the door, got our tickets and found our seats up in the high Mezzanine. After fifteen minutes of continued conversation with classmates about the night's topics, the lights dimmed and the panelists were introduced. I was most excited to see Ronan Farrow, a journalist well known for his hard work uncovering Harvey Weinstien’s sex-scandals. I have followed his work and public-person closely and admire him as a truth seeker and public figure.

During the discussion, numerous topics were touched upon but one that sticks out in particular is when they talked about the impact of advertisement on news organizations. They spoke of the implications that news organizations face when they become closely related to advertisement companies. This made me think of how this relationship impacts biased media. With the goal of many to report the news in the most unbiased way possible, advertisements can get in the way of that. Commercial pressure from advertisers with monetary leverage over journalists may use their finances to sway how journalists, or news organizations tell their journalists, to report their findings. Additionally, many news organizations are owned by capitalist corporations — all of which are run like a business to turn a profit — which takes away from journalistic freedom. The primary ways companies make their money is through advertisement and potentially politically-controversial donations. As if it was a part of a carefully planned plot, Ronan Farrow then raised a point regarding the proper way media journalists must approach this issue that perfectly links to my internal thoughts: that “objectivity is the new transparency.” This made me further consider the practices of journalists and their methods. Being objective is a very difficult feat that many face when presenting facts because everyone has emotional factors in their actions. How can someone truly be objective in this practice? Does reporting on a story that a journalist has personal ties to, positively or negatively affect their ability to deliver clear, unbiased news? How does personal passion play a role in the stories journalists decide to tell?

Taking the time to consider the purpose of forums like this is crucially important to learning the value of these Global Studies events. Watkinson’s mission statement, “To develop in students the power to be knowledgeable and effective world citizens — acting locally and globally — and to foster respect for diverse people and cultures” plays an important role in analyzing the goals of these trips. During the panel discussion, one of the topics they touched upon was the increasing numbers of news deserts in the US. These are areas that do not have a local newspaper to report on domestic issues or report on community events. The death of local journalism in this sense contributes to the growing numbers of misinformation due to the lack of accountability for organizations, people and systems. Learning the root causes of real world issues like this helps with “acting on a local level.” Learning the background and origins of issues is the first step in knowing how to help. A primary example of this is the story of the rise of George Santos. A serial liar was given a platform without any means of accountability and was able to climb the ranks to gain a seat in the House of Representatives, representing over 750 thousand people in New York's 3rd district. Without the people in place to confront falsities, politicians are allowed to spread untrue information. This forum highlighted the importance of recognizing fact and bias, and Watkinson’s mission statement, building off of that, allows me to see the connection between recognizing this information, and acting upon it.