Invitation to Journalism 2.0: Fake News and Democracy in the Digital News Age - Legal and Policy Challenges

Together with the Carl-Schurz-Haus we cordially invite you to a round table talk on the above subject with John Nichols (US journalist, The Nation), Madison, Wisconsin.

A free and functional system for gathering and disseminating information is so essential to fair elections and the representative democracy that is supposed to extend from them that it is shocking that nation states fail to consider media and democracy issues in conjunction with one another. Yet, for the most part, this is the case. Laws and structures that define media systems are rarely updated in meaningful and comprehensive ways; indeed, to the extent that they are changed at all, it is often in response to commercial pressures rather than social concerns.

This disconnection has reached a crisis stage in the United States, as honest observers from across the political spectrum acknowledge when they discuss examples of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, the role that the 24-hour news cycle played in the rise of Donald Trump and the influence of hyper-ideological and hyper-partisan “fake news” on issues that are discussed and votes that are cast. Yet, for the most part, the discussion focuses on outrage and defensiveness rather than serious assessments and problem solving.

John Nichols, Madison, WI, is an American journalist and author. He is the Washington correspondent for the Nation and associate editor of The Capitol Times. Books authored by Nichols include The Death and Life of American Journalism.

Date and Location:
Tuesday, March 6, 2018, 7 p.m.
Friedrich Graf von Westphalen, Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 284, 79098 Freiburg

The presentation and discussion will be held in English.

Please register by e-mail to direktion@carl-schurz-haus.de by March 2, 2018. We look forward to an exciting evening with you.

Contact:
Gerhard Manz
Barbara Mayer