Episode 223: Media Literacy
The days of getting the information you need to make informed decisions on the 6pm nightly news are gone. Now we can get our information from many different sources but how do we make sure that what we are consuming and sharing is more fact than opinion? L. Joy brings Karen Hunter back to the front of the class, joined by Errol Louis, to discuss media literacy and share how they gather information, in a conversation that will motivate you to think deeply about the information you consume.
Homework:
When consuming information, look for 3-4 additional sources of said information.
Read: Propaganda by Edward Bernays https://www.amazon.com/Propaganda-Edward-Bernays/dp/9563100921
Read: On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt https://www.amazon.com/Bullshit-Harry-G-Frankfurt/dp/0691122946
Watch: Classified X by Melvin Van Peebles https://www.amazon.com/Melvin-Van-Peebles-Classified-X/dp/6305069751
Our Guests:
Karen Hunter is a journalist (16 years at the New York Daily News, earning a Pulitzer Prize and Polk Award). An author (co-authored more than 30 books with 8 New York Times Bestsellers).
A publisher (eponymous joint venture with Simon & Schuster produced a No. 1 bestseller with Janet Jackson and bestsellers with Kris Jenner and E. Lynn Harris). A professor (20 years teaching journalism—3 years at NYU and 17 years at Hunter College) She was named “Woke” (Essence magazine’s Woke 100—Class of 2018). She is a Talk Show Host (Named one of the 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America). Karen Hunter is a programmer (Launched 7 new shows on SiriusXM’s Urban View and made it among the most-listened-to talk channel at SiriusXM).
Errol Louis is the Political Anchor of NY1 News, where he hosts “Inside City Hall,” a nightly prime-time show about New York City politics, on which he interviews top political and cultural leaders, including an exclusive weekly one-on-one conversation with Mayor Bill de Blasio. Louis has also conducted interviews with ex-mayors David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg; Gov. Andrew Cuomo and presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
Louis has moderated more than two dozen debates between candidates for mayor, public advocate, city and state comptroller, state Attorney General and U.S. Senate. In 2016 he was a questioner in the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
In addition to political leaders, Louis has interviewed iconic cultural figures including filmmaker Ken Burns, activist Gloria Steinem and authors Robert Caro and Gay Talese.
Louis is a longtime CNN Contributor, providing on-air commentary on key events including presidential primaries and Election Night. He writes regularly for CNN.com, as well as a weekly column for the New York Daily News on a range of political and social affairs.
Louis was recently ranked #40 on the list of the 100 most powerful people in New York City politics. He is an adjunct professor of Urban Reporting at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where he has taught political and investigative reporting to more than 100 graduate students. He is co-editor of Deadline Artists, a two-volume anthology of America’s greatest newspaper columns published in October 2011.
A graduate of New Rochelle High School, Louis attended Harvard College, where he graduated with a B.A. in Government. He also earned an M.A. in Political Science from Yale University and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.
