A talk titled “The Fabulist in the White House: How the Media Handle Trump’s Tortured Relationship with the Truth,” will be held at Colorado State University next week.
The presentation, hosted by CSU’s Department of Journalism and Media Communication and the CSU Society of Professional Journalists chapter, will be delivered by University of Colorado Journalism Department Chair and Associate Professor Elizabeth Skewes.
A response from David Wolfgang, communications law and JMC assistant professor, will follow Skewes’ presentation. The event will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, in the Lory Student Center, Room 372. JMC Assistant Professor Lee Anne Peck will moderate.
Skewes’ presentation will examine how journalists grapple with the issue of whether to call Trump a liar, and why they often do not. Typically, journalists will say it is a question of not knowing the intent of the president, Skewes says. Is he the victim of bad information, or is he trying to spin a situation and omit important information?
Skewes’ presentation will look at about a dozen key instances when Trump traded in misinformation and how news organizations from venues across the ideological spectrum characterized his statements.
The event is being held in recognition of SPJ’s Ethics Week, from April 22-26. For more information, contact event planner Alyssa Proulx at alyssa.proulx@rams.colostate.edu or moderator Peck at Lee.Peck@colostate.edu.
