Against the background of the Trump administration labeling news reports that it doesn”™t like as “fake news” and using “alternative facts” to justify decisions, the New Rochelle Library Foundation presented a panel discussion titled “Media Literacy in the Era of Alternative Facts.”
This was the fourth in foundation”™s “Cocktails and Conversations” series. About 60 people gathered at Alvin & Friends Restaurant in New Rochelle. Featured on the panel were Sunny Hostin, senior legal correspondent for ABC News and co-host of ABC”™s morning talk show “The View,” and Christopher J. Farley, The Wall Street Journal”™s senior editorial director, digital features.
The panel discussion was moderated by Amy Bass, a professor at The College of New Rochelle and director of the school”™s honors program.
The participants emphasized the need for consumers to know who”™s behind the news they”™re receiving and understand the difference between journalists and opinionated commentators. Farley suggested that the most reliable sources are those that run corrections, since the job of journalists is to report the facts and that media sources that never run corrections are less trustworthy. Hostin talked about the importance of teaching children to be critical thinkers, which includes how to view, listen to and read the news, then apply it to shaping their worldview and beliefs.
