Evento

Think & Drink: Breaking News - The State of American Journalism

**Due to unforeseen circumstances, Marcus Green is no longer able to participate in our panel. Fortunately, his colleague, Vianna Davila, Seattle Times metro reporter, will be joining us instead!**

Think & Drink events are hosted conversations at pubs and tasting rooms on provocative topics and new ideas.

Journalism plays a vital role in a democracy---a free press is among the first institutions to be gutted in an autocracy, and a thriving press is a sign of civic health. But dramatically falling revenue, the decimation of smaller newspapers, and an increasing reliance on the whims of a few social media companies for reach has thrown the industry into turmoil.

Worse, public trust in journalists has become deeply polarized. According to a 2017 Gallup poll, 72% of Democrats say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. Republicans? 14%.

Are journalists simply neutral fact-finders, or is there good reason for this mistrust? Does the media lean liberal? Are the struggles journalists face just growing pains as they adjust to a new digital age, or signs of a slow death? How seriously should we take some of President Trumps threats to journalists? Should we fear censorship or First Amendment curtailments?

Join us as we examine the state of the news, featuring: Seattle Times Reporter, Vianna Davila; associate editor of the Stranger, Eli Sanders; and University of Washington Communications professor and researcher of Seattle journalism, Matthew Powers. Moderated by Crosscut journalist Knute Berger.

This event is part of our fall statewide series, "Moment of Truth: Journalism and Democracy in an Age of Misinformation."

Founded in 1973, Humanities Washington is the state's flagship non-profit for public humanities programming and an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

We thank The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support of this initiative and the Pulitzer Prizes for their partnership.