ABC and University of Tasmania national conference to explore public’s declining trust in media

The ABC and the University of Tasmania will present a two-day conference in Hobart in September to explore the public’s declining trust in the media and how news organisations are responding.

‘Navigating the News Conference’, to be held at the University of Tasmania, Hobart on 10-11 September 2018, will bring together leading Australian journalists and academics to discuss trust in journalism and how to collaborate to help better inform citizens.

Speakers include ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania Professor Rufus Black; Director ABC News, Analysis and Investigations Gaven Morris; UNESCO Chair of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland Peter Greste; Chief Executive of The Australian Nicholas Gray; Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald Lisa Davies; and Editor and General Manager of Buzzfeed Australia, Simon Crerar.

Dr Claire Wardle, an international expert on social media, user-generated content and verification, has been confirmed as a keynote speaker. Dr Wardle is Executive Director of First Draft, which is dedicated to finding solutions to the challenges associated with trust and truth in the digital age. She is also a Research Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell, will lead the second day of the conference discussing the equipping and empowering of citizens of the future.

The conference is part of the inaugural Media Literacy Week — an ABC initiative aimed at equipping Australians of all ages — particularly students — with the skills they need to understand and interpret news and information. Navigating the News Conference is Media Literacy Week’s flagship event and is led by journalist and media academic Dr Joce Nettlefold.

“In today’s media environment we have seen a significant shift in how people consume their news and information and they are increasingly exposed to fast-moving misinformation,” Dr Nettlefold said.

“This conference seeks to identify ways we can build public interest journalism and increase media literacy in Australia. Science and health communications are also a focus.

“Journalists have traditionally been gate-keepers of information, but in the interactive media environment their role is being expanded to include much-needed guidance to audiences and readers.”

The conference will be held at the Centre for the Arts, University of Tasmania in Hobart. Registration is now open with a limited number of seats available to the public. To register head here.

The conference will be livestreamed and some sessions will be available on demand on ABC platforms after the event.

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