Experts to Explore Solutions to Tech Threats Facing Modern Journalism

The Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation will host "Addressing the Impact of Social Media and AI on Democracy" on April 1-2 at The Inn at Ole Miss. The interactive symposium will examine how media and technology are reshaping the nation, sometimes creating barriers to reliable information.

But the center's first-ever symposium will also focus on charting a path forward.

"We are now seeing news based on algorithms, not editors," said Jamie Barnett, interim director of the Jordan Center and adjunct professor in the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies.

"We're now having more citizen reporters and when something goes viral, that's what people see as opposed to trained journalists actually trying to sort out the truth. We want to bring that to light and maybe have a new standard of journalism that we'd like to promote."

This symposium is designed for civic leaders, journalists, policymakers, students, educators and concerned citizens interested in the changing landscapes of technology, media literacy and news reporting.

The event will include journalists and speakers who have studied topics such as how technology is affecting society's media literacy skills, tech policy and privacy, Barnett said.

Richard Liu, an NBC and MSNBC news anchor since 2010, is the event's keynote speaker. The award-winning journalist and entrepreneur has spent more than 30 years in media, technology and business.

The speaker roster also includes:

• Bill Adair, creator of PolitiFact and Knight Professor of Journalism Public Policy at Duke University
• Charles Blow, a New York Times columnist and MSNBC political analyst
• Danah Boyd, scholar, partner researcher at Microsoft Research and Data & Society founder
• Steven Brill, lawyer, journalist and founder of both The American Lawyer and Court TV
• Meredith Broussard, data journalist, associate professor at the Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and research director at NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology
• Kashmir Hill, a New York Times tech reporter and author
• Elise Jordan, acclaimed journalist, political analyst and communications strategist
• Andy Kroll, ProPublica reporter, author and former Washington bureau chief for Rolling Stone
• Dana Milbank, a nationally syndicated op-ed columnist for The Washington Post
• Zeynep Tufekci, renowned techno-sociologist, New York Times columnist and Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

The UM School of Journalism and New Media founded the Jordan Center in 2024 to focus on strengthening journalism's role in democracy by exploring solutions to misinformation, evolving media technologies and press freedoms.

Registration is required to attend. Tickets cost $25 for the public and are free to Ole Miss faculty, staff and students.

Top: The Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation aims to confront growing technological threats to media literacy and quality journalism by seeking input from nationally recognized experts to discuss solutions at its inaugural symposium. The event is set for April 1-2 at The Inn at Ole Miss. Illustration by John McCustion/University Marketing and Communications