Journalism & Democracy (with Jason Adrians, Lolly Bowean, & Michael Deas)

American democracy is facing very serious challenges, as we have noted in much of our work (see just a few examples here and here and here). One of the greatest threats is that posed by misinformation and disinformation, as many Americans turn away from credible news and information sources and instead rely on low-quality outlets.

With this in mind, on November 2, 2021, we hosted a panel to discuss the importance of journalism in restoring our democracy. Our panel included:

• Jason Adrians, executive editor for the Wisconsin State Journal and national editor for Lee Enterprises
• Lolly Bowean, program officer at the Field Foundation (formerly with the Chicago Tribune and Times-Picayune)
• Michael Deas, journalism faculty member at Northwestern University (formerly with the Chicago Tribune)

Episode music:

• “Please Listen Carefully” by Jahzzar (creative commons)
• “Make Your Dreams Reality” by Scott Holmes Music (creative commons)
• "Reading by Lamplight” by Maarten Schellekens (creative commons)
• “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Utterly Moderate Podcast is the official podcast of Connors Institute for Nonpartisan Research and Civic Engagement at Shippensburg University.

The core mission of the Connors Institute is to disseminate high-quality nonpartisan information to the public.

Utterly Moderate is hosted by Lawrence Eppard, a researcher, university professor, and director of the Connors Institute. On each episode, Eppard is joined by a guest (or two or three!) who helps listeners understand important topics by focusing on just the weight of the empirical evidence and none of the unneeded opinions or political agendas. We are aggressively nonpartisan in our approach.

Be sure to visit us at ConnorsInstitute.org to learn more about all that we do!