Complex Topics in the Age of Twitter: From Ebola to Inequality, with the Yale Alumni in Journalism Association

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Overview: Whether it’s chatter about "airborne" Ebola or discussion of the Gini index and growing inequality in America, there is no shortage of opinion. What we are seeing, however, is that facts and understanding of the issues are in short supply. This offers a vital role for and presents a challenge to the media. This informal discussion, moderated by Julian Fisher '69, neurologist and photojournalist,will bring together two distinguished media commentators, Richard Parker, economist, biographer of John Kenneth Galbraith, and founder of Mother Jones, and Stephen Kinzer, foreign correspondent (Boston Globe, New York Times), and author to discuss the challenges of addressing complex topics and their solutions.

Discussion will include:

-It’s often said that people are increasingly reading news that confirms their biases. 

-Between the DailyKos and Fox News, it’s easy to believe - is this really a growing trend? 

-How can journalists pull the extremes to the middle and offer balance?

-Inequality: Why it appears to be growing, why some have challenged the supporting data and how it might be possible to see it as an important issue, even if you doubt some of the data

-Ebola: Technically it does not spread by airborne transmission. Yet sneezes are commonly thought of as airborne. How does a journalist address the gap between common understanding and accuracy?

-Global Warming: The appropriate term is Climate Change, but the journalist who uses that term can expect far less online traffic

-Rape Crisis on Campus: A hot topic currently, but did a desire to be heard above the rest of the headlines lead Rolling Stone into publishing poorly researched stories?

To pre-register or assist with this event, please contact YAJA at yalejournalists@gmail.com. Location TBD.