The political media ecosystem is littered with disinformation. Journalists have to navigate a digital minefield, parsing new technologies like artificial intelligence, in order to cover candidates and engage the public. Media thought leaders share lessons learned from elections past and present, and offer suggestions for how news consumers can distinguish fact from fiction and stay informed.
Kat Abughazaleh, Video Creator & Media Analyst, Mother Jones
Kat Abughazaleh is a video creator based in Washington, DC. She started her career at Media Matters for America, monitoring dangerous narratives at Fox News. Her video explainers about media and politics have gained tens of millions of views over TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and X as well as profiles in The New Yorker and Buzzfeed News. When she's not writing scripts, recording videos, and editing clips, Kat likes to read space operas and hang out with her cat, Heater.
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive Director, National Association of Media Literacy Education
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin has served as Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education since 2012. Michelle has helped NAMLE grow to be the preeminent media literacy education association in the U.S. She launched Media Literacy Week in the U.S. now in its 10th year, developed strategic partnerships with companies such as Thomson Reuters, Meta, YouTube, and Nickelodeon, and restructured both the governance and membership of NAMLE. She has overseen seven national conferences, created the National Media Literacy Alliance for teacher membership organizations, and done countless appearances at conferences and in the media regarding the importance of media literacy education. Michelle was the recipient of the 2020 Global Media and Information Literacy Award given by UNESCO.
-
Michelle is an alumni of the U.S. Dept. of State’s International Visitors Program (Australia/2018). She regularly serves as Adjunct Lecturer at Brooklyn College where she teaches Media Literacy. She sits on the Advisory Council for the ML3: Librarians as Leaders for Media Literacy initiative led by Project Look Sharp.
Michelle began her career in children’s television production, in various roles on both corporate and production teams. She earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from New York University. Michelle focused her grad work on children and television where she caught the “media literacy bug”. After graduate school, Michelle worked as a facilitator for The LAMP (Learning about Multimedia Project) teaching media literacy and production classes for Pre-Kindergarten to 5th grade students.
Her passion for media literacy education stems from a very personal place. Learn more about Michelle’s story here.
When not thinking about media literacy, Michelle is either sitting at home in Brooklyn with her dog and husband, most likely reading, or at one of her kids’ music gigs somewhere around the country.
Micah Loewinger, Co-Host, On the Media, WNYC
His investigation into Zello, a walkie-talkie app used for recruitment and organizing by far-right militia groups in the lead up to January 6th, won the John M. Higgins Award for Best In-Depth/Enterprise Reporting and was featured on 60 Minutes. His story about a Ukrainian Twitch streamer's escape from war was a finalist for Third Coast's Best News Feature. His piece on a Syrian refugee camp in a Swedish Wild West theme park was a finalist for a Livingston Award. His series on the collapse of digital media was a finalist for a Mirror Award for Best Commentary.
In 2019, The New York Times wrote about his experiment on the use of restorative justice in moderating the internet’s largest Christian forum. He has been featured as a guest on Marketplace, HowSound, What Next with Mary Harris, and The Investigators with Diana Swain.
-
Loewinger’s radio and written work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, Death Sex and Money, and Gothamist.
He began working at On the Media in 2016, first as a producer and then On the Media’s first staff reporter. His investigative and human-interest stories have focused on political extremism, internet culture, and the evolution of the news industry.
Elle Reeve, Correspondent, CNN; Author, Black Pill
Elle Reeve is a CNN correspondent whose work has won numerous awards, including the Emmy, the Peabody, and more. Her writing has appeared in VICE, The New Republic, New York magazine, Elle, The Atlantic, and The Daily Beast. She lives in New York. You can follow her on Twitter @ElspethReeve.
Moderator: J. Max Robins, President & Executive Director, Center for Communication
J. Max Robins is a veteran journalist, media analyst and producer with extensive editorial experience in a variety of sectors in the industry. Before joining the Center for Communication in 2014, Max was the Vice President/Executive Director of the Paley Center for Media. Prior to this, Max was the editor-in-chief of “TV industry bible," Broadcasting & Cable. Before joining B&C, Max was senior editor and columnist at TV Guide. Prior to TV Guide, he was TV editor and columnist at Variety.
Max’s work has appeared in myriad publications, including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and New York. He has commented on media-related issues for many major news outlets, including NBC, CBS, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC and NPR. You can follow Max on Twitter at @jmaxrobins.
Presented with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library
The event will be recorded and distributed through NYC Media. The Center for Communication and NYC Media will be in control of the transmission, recording, and distribution of the event.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Center's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Accessibility: Center for Communication provides reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for Center for Communication events should be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the accommodation need. Please email community@centerforcommunication.org for assistance.
Have we helped you on your career journey?
In an effort to measure the impact of our work, we are reaching out to those of you who have engaged with the Center in some way and ask that you please take a moment to respond to our survey.
Upon completing the survey, you will be eligible to win one of several Amazon gift cards worth $50.