Journalism Panel Discussion Coming to ATU

Arkansas Tech University and the Arkansas Humanities Council will present a panel discussion entitled “Arkansas and The Media: The Future and Relevance of Journalism in Our Democracy” on Monday, April 16.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. in room 300B of Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, 305 West Q Street in Russellville. Admission will be free and open to the public.

Rex Nelson (photographed), senior editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, will serve as moderator.

Scheduled panelists include Gwen Moritz, editor of Arkansas Business; Ken Reynolds, assistant news director at KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock; Dr. Jay Hudkins, associate professor of communication at ATU; Dr. Merlin Mann, associate professor of journalism at ATU; and Dr. Michael Rogers, associate professor of political science at ATU.

Topics to be pondered during the event include the future of journalism, the role of journalism in the local community, news literacy in the era of fake news and the impact of all of the above on civic engagement in Arkansas.

Co-sponsors for the ATU panel discussion include the ATU College of Arts and Humanities, the ATU Department of History and Political Science and the ATU Department of Communication and Journalism.

The series is funded by the Mellon Foundation’s Democracy and the Informed Citizen Project and supported by the Pulitzer Prize.