Science Journalism in a Post-Truth World: Panel Discussion

October 16th, the DANA Program for Neuroscience and Society at Loyola hosted a science journalism panel featuring five knowledgeable speakers. Loyola students and faculty joined in the event for coffee, donuts and conversation.

 

The guests on the panel were Chicago Tribune environmental reporter Adriana Pérez, science podcaster and writer Sadie Witkowski, Loyola Biology professor Thomas Sanger, science journalist Carolyn Wilke and Loyola environmental journalism instructor Susan Cosier.

 

The event began with organizer and Loyola media ethics and law professor Bastiaan Vanaker presenting awards to the winners of the program’s neuroscience journalism competition. In first place was Sophia Martinez for her article titled, “The Silent Pandemic: How Loneliness is Rewiring Aging Brains.” Tiffany Chan took second place with her story, “The Broken Circuit: How Childhood Trauma Rewires the Brain—and Gets Students Punished for It.” In third place was Jeffrey Mu for his piece, “Optimizing the Mind: Brown Researchers Develop Neural Model to Understand Working Memory.”

 

Moderated by Vanaker, the panel began with discussion centered around the challenges that confront science journalism. Especially in a time where there is a declining public trust of journalism and science, how are scientists able to engage with the public? Different media platforms, whether traditional or up-and-coming, were also addressed. 

 

The panel touched on their thoughts of artificial intelligence in the media, misinformation and disinformation. Attendees listened and asked questions regarding careers in science communication, how to support quality media outlets and science literacy. 

 

The event concluded with lunch and continued conversations on the current issues facing the fields of journalism and science communication.

 

View more event photos here.

 

Read more about the event in The Loyola Phoenix.