San Diego State University College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts

School of Journalism and Media Studies Hosts “Disinfection Disinformation” Series

Media Literacy Series Webinars are part of a free series aimed to spot, stop, and debunk disinformation.

School of Journalism and Media Studies Hosts “Disinfection Disinformation” Series

by Gabriela Romero

September 28, 2020

​September 28, 2020

According to data from the 2020 Disinformation in Society report, “more than half of Americans see misinformation and disinformation as ‘major problems’ in the U.S., compared to other societal issues.” The School of Journalism and Media Studies’ five part webinar series aims to tackle this issue.

The school's free “Disinfecting Disinformation” series will first discuss “How Journalists and Citizen Groups Work to Clean the Mess of Misinformation” on Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. Panelists include new SPJ President and the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Mathew Hall, as well as Ashley Bryant from A/B partners who co-founded the Win Black/Pa’lante campaign. Moderating the discussion is SDSU Media Studies Professor, Nathian Shae Rodriguez. The panel will compare mainstream news to a citizen groundswell group to observe how both sides deal with disinformation.

The series will focus on helping citizens spot, stop and debunk everything from fake news to malicious disinformation. Overall, through analyzing case studies, learning how to spot disinformation and how it distorts truth, the webinars will empower readers to be their own information gatekeeper.

The webinars are in partnership with Glen M. Broom Center for Professional Development in Public Relations, the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Public Library, inewsource, PRSA San Diego/Imperial Counties and the San Diego Association of Black Journalists.

Dr. Temple Northup, director of the School of Journalism and Media Studies states, “we are training future journalists, public relations professionals and communicators … but we also serve our community in helping them navigate media literacy.”

Register for “How Journalists and Citizen Groups Work to Clean the Mess of Misinformation” discussion here. Open to the public.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.

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