UCO Media Ethics Conference to Highlight ‘The War on Truth,’ Oct. 3
Liberal Arts News and Events
September 25, 2023
The University of Central Oklahoma will host local, national and international speakers at the annual student-run Media Ethics Conference from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 3, in the Communications building, located on Central’s campus and via Facebook Live. The theme of this year’s conference is “The War on Truth: Confronting Deception in the Media.”
The Media Ethics Conference will kick off the event with a welcome from Todd Lamb, UCO president, followed by the first keynote, “John F. Kennedy: I Was There,” led by Joe Carter, hall of fame journalist. Carter will discuss his journey as a journalist and how he witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy as a young reporter 60 years ago.
Additional keynote speakers include Ben Montgomery, a Pulitzer Prize finalist; Tanya Gordiienko, a Ukrainian media analyst and journalist; and, Dannagal G. Young, Ph.D., a professor and author. The keynotes will address ethical concerns with war propaganda, conspiracies and the lack of media literacy.
The conference panel about the Tulsa Race Massacre will feature speakers Randy Krehbiel, reporter for the Tulsa World and author of “Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre;” Marc Goulding, Ph.D., chairperson for the Department of History and Geography at Central; and, B. Seth-Bryant, managing partner for Bryant Rabbino LLP in New York.
An additional panel at the Media Ethics Conference includes “AI: Threat or Tool?,” which will focus on artificial intelligence and its impact on the media. The panel will feature Laura Dumin, Ph.D., professor of English at Central; Young; and, Rob Collins, executive director for the Oklahoma Media Center.
The conference will also include a special photo exhibition curated by Purdue University titled “Ukrainian Grit & Hope: A Traveling Photo Exhibition,” created by Vitalii Nosach, photographer. The exhibition focuses on the war in Ukraine and will be available for viewing throughout the conference.
The conference is organized by students in the Department of Mass Communication’s media conference leadership class. Joe Hight, Edith Kinney Gaylord Endowed Chairperson of Journalism Ethics at Central, is the adviser for the leadership class.
For more information and to view the conference via Facebook Live, visit facebook.com/ucomediacon2023.