Students, faculty and Northampton residents gathered to learn about the role of media during the upcoming elections at the “Constitution Day Panel: Media & Elections,” on Tuesday, Sept. 17 in the Alumnae House.
“We all rely on free press for information about the news of the day and thoughtful, informed analysis,” said President Sarah Willie-LeBreton, who introduced the panelists and the topic of the event. “In an election year, we are especially dependent upon it for accurate information about candidates and issues.”
The panel was moderated by Matt Abramovitz, president of New England Public Media. The panelists included Deborah Becker, host and reporter for WBUR, Howard Gold, professor of government at Smith College, Elizabeth Román, managing news editor at New England Public Media and Lisa Williams, audience engagement editor at GBH News.
Abramovitz opened the discussion by asking the panelists questions on the topics of media literacy in the digital age, social media and the state of the journalism industry today. The talk lasted for approximately 45 minutes, followed by an opportunity for audience members to ask the panelists questions.
Gold described the current news landscape as a “proliferation of information,” with millions of sources of news accessible by a single Google search. With this information overload, it is important that people find quality news sources to keep them informed.
“Quality journalism and the access to accurate, truthful information is as important to our community as having clean air, water and education. We can’t take it for granted,” Abramovitz said.
In a world with access to an overabundance of information, people only consume a fraction of the media that is available to them. “In our information bubbles, we are rarely exposed to opposing points of view,” said Gold. “I know what I consume, and I consume it because I agree with it.”
Claire Critchett ’28, an audience member, heard about the event in one of Gold’s classes. She came because she thought it was a relevant topic in today’s political climate. “It reinforced what I currently think about ‘the bubble.’ That is something I think is so interesting because I come from a very conservative place and it’s interesting to hear about how people only consume what they want to hear.”
The topic of discussion transitioned to the role of social media as a source of news, and there was some disagreement amongst the panelists about the role social media should have in politics and news. While Gold said social media is generally a poor news source, as it is algorithmically determined and not fact-checked, Williams stressed the importance of leaning into social media and using it as a tool to reach a wider audience. “I think we have an obligation to go where people are. We shouldn’t retreat from it,” she said.
“You can’t hold an audience together with a diet of straight doom,” Williams said regarding the rise of more lighthearted social media trends that blur the lines between politics and entertainment. However, along with the advent of social media, local newspapers are rapidly going out of business, and all of the panelists stressed the importance of supporting these independent publications. “I want to pass on a thriving news room to the next generation of journalists. We are not turning the light off,” said Williams
With the excess of information on the internet, the panelists stressed the importance of critical thinking. They recommended using reliable and varied sources and to fact-check things seen on social media.
“If people are going through this much work to change my opinion, then my opinion must be important,” Becker said. “Remember the power of your opinion and your vote.”
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