Media and Politics Symposium
On October 24th, the Foley Institute hosted the annual Media and Politics Symposium in collaboration with the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. The panel consisted of WSU Professor Dr. Porismita Borah, Dr. Johanna Dunaway from Texas A & M, and Dr. Regina Lawrence of University of Oregon. The focus of the panel was on President Trump’s extensive use of social media to shape policy and public opinion and ultimately attack mainstream media.
Dr. Borah discussed the conversation around fake news. She analyzed the case of “Pizza gate” and the presence of this on twitter, and how “pizzagate” was spread through social media. She outlined the various arguments around the conspiracy theories against Hillary Clinton. She also stated that in the most recent presidential election, a majority of the big players were involved in spreading fake news between either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Dr. Dunaway discussed the complicated relationship between the news media and social media. She posed the question: Are we experiencing a new normal? She examined the fact that there has been a heavier volume of social media use by governmental actors and that the tendency of the posts is to have a negative or outrageous tone. She stated that Trump tries to bypass use of news media by using twitter. She outlined the historically tense relationship between presidents and the press. The press and the president both need each other, as a microphone or as something to cover, effectively making the president the newsmaker and chief.
Dr. Lawrence discussed the mainstream news and how they report on President Donald Trump. She began by outlining what the mainstream media is. She argued that they do not play the same privilege role they did before mainly due to the high level of distrust among Americans as only 30% of the population trust the media. She stated that President Trump does want the population to believe he wants to get rid of the media, but Trump like other populist leaders need the media to accomplish their goals. When the media investigates presidents, it forces them to stay in line, but in fact getting those bells to ring is his strategy, with alarm or derision.
The distinguished guests further discussed the future implications for the changing role of the mainstream media. They agreed that the prospects for a good relationship between the President and the mainstream media is not something that we will see in the near future, however both institutions need one another to survive.