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FUTURE LIVE EVENT SCHEDULE PENDING  -  Watch on video HERE starting with the first session.

Is Media Ruining America? Media Disinformation Workshops

The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County is partnering with Jefferson County Public Library to offer a series of workshops on media mis/disinformation and how media is polarizing the country. We're using the book True or False, A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News, by Cindy L Otis. as the basis for the workshops and bringing in additional resources as needed, and we're modeling the workshops on the Great Decisions format.

The workshops are structured to provide presentations and encourage audience participation through planned exercises and discussion. We will make the book available through the libraries and encourage folks to read it, but participants won't have to have read it to participate in - and benefit from - the workshops.

· Session One: How we got here, covering the evolution of media and the recent changes brought by deregulation, the rise of cable news, talk radio, the Internet, social media, the use of algorithms, the decline in print/broadcast/local media and the proliferation of digital media channels.

· Session Two: How to recognize and combat biases on a personal level and in the media. 

· Session Three: How to spot (and avoid) "fake news" and begin to bridge the political divide.

· Session Four: The dangers of AI and how to address them.

· Session Five: A panel discussion with local experts to address trends in media, the decline in local news, the dangers of media information and strategies to address them.