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Media Criticism in Turbulent Times
Media Criticism in Turbulent Times: A Panel Discussion
April 25, 2018 (Wednesday) — 3:30-4:30pm — BMC 5.208
Ludovic Bertron / CC BY 2.0 / Modified
What is the role of media criticism in our turbulent political times? How should we react to the messages and myths our movies, news, and politicians attempt to sell to us? Is being “critical” a bad word for democratic citizens? In this exciting Media Ethics Initiative event, a panel of distinguished communication scholars will discuss the role of criticism and critics in navigating all the media we experience in our technological democracy. Drawing upon their work in rhetoric, communication studies, and media studies, our panelists will consider the limits of criticism as well as its importance in tumultuous times such as our present. Confirmed participants include:
Dr. Rod Hart / Communication Studies
Dr. Trish Roberts-Miller / Rhetoric & Writing
Dr. Barry Brummett / Communication Studies
Dr. Michael Butterworth / Communication Studies
Moderated by Dr. Scott Stroud / Communication Studies
Follow us on Facebook / Free and open to the public / www.mediaethicsinitiative.org
Virtual Reality and Media Ethics
The Media Ethics Initiative Presents:
The Ethics of Virtual Reality
Dr. Donald Heider
Dean and Professor of Communication
Loyola University Chicago
April 10 (Tuesday), 3:30-5:00PM, CMA 5.136
Virtual Reality gives participants the chance to enter immersive and interactive media environments. As with many new technologies, virtual reality requires our consideration of the implications of these tools. What are ethical implications of virtual reality for journalism, film-making and other communication fields? This talk will explore the exciting new possibilities and challenges that virtual reality opens up for a range of media practices.
Dr. Donald Heider is the Associate Provost for Strategy & Innovation and Founding Dean at the School of Communication at Loyola University Chicago and Founder of the Center for Digital Ethics & Policy. He is author, co-author, or editor of eight books including two volumes of Ethics for a Digital Age, the latest of which is due out in 2018. Dr. Heider is a multiple Emmy-award winning producer who spent ten years in news before entering the academy. He earned his B.A. from Colorado State University, his M.A. from American University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. He served previously as Associate Dean at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and was on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, Colorado, and University of Mississippi.
Co-sponsored by the School of Journalism, UT Austin
Free and open to the UT community and general public
For further information, contact Dr. Scott Stroud
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News Media and Democracy
The Media Ethics Initiative Presents:
Engaging Newsrooms in the Digital Age
Photo: Doug Waldron/CC BY-SA 2.0
Dr. Talia Stroud
Department of Communication Studies & the Center for Media Engagement
University of Texas at Austin
February 22 – 3:30-4:30PM – BMC 5.102
Some think our democracy is in trouble, and that our news media hold the key to fixing our problems. How can our scholarship guide news media in such a role? Does what we do in our colleges and universities matter for improving newsrooms and how they contribute to society? In this talk, Dr. Talia Stroud will show how doing research that matters for democracy is not a new topic. Drawing on a variety of research projects conducted by the Center for Media Engagement, she will explore effective ways that research can help news media increase civility among commenters, increase citizen engagement with news stories, and more. Journalism can help sustain our democratic institutions and practices, but only if we guide it in an intelligent and reflective fashion.
Dr. Natalie (Talia) Stroud is the Director of the Center for Media Engagement and Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Her book, Niche News (Oxford, 2011), examines likeminded political media use and the challenges it presents to democracy. The book received the 2012 Outstanding Book Award from the International Communication Association. Stroud previously worked at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Her publications and grant-funded research cover a variety of topics related to citizen engagement in news and social media. Her research has appeared in Political Communication, Journal of Communication, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and the International Journal of Public Opinion Research.
Free and open to all – Follow us on Facebook
Robots, Algorithms, and Digital Ethics
The Media Ethics Initiative Presents:
How to Survive the Robot Apocalypse
Photo: Media Ethics Initiative
Dr. David J. Gunkel
Distinguished Teaching Professor
Department of Communication
Northern Illinois University
April 3 — 2:00-3:30PM — BMC 5.208
Whether we recognize it or not, we are in the midst of a robot invasion. The machines are now everywhere and doing virtually everything. We chat with them online. We play with them in digital games. We collaborate with them at work. And we rely on their capabilities to help us manage all aspects of our increasingly data-rich, digital lives. As these increasingly capable devices come to occupy influential positions in contemporary culture—positions where they are not just tools or instruments of human action but social actors in their own right—we will need to ask ourselves some intriguing but rather difficult questions: At what point might a robot, an algorithm, or other autonomous system be held responsible for the decisions it makes or the actions it deploys? When, in other words, would it make sense to say “It’s the computer’s fault?” Likewise, at what point might we have to seriously consider extending something like rights—civil, moral or legal standing—to these socially active devices? When, in other words, when would it no longer be considered non-sense to suggest something like “the rights of robots?” In this engaging talk, David Gunkel will demonstrate why it not only makes sense to talk about these things but also why avoiding this subject could have significant social consequences.
Dr. David J. Gunkel is an award-winning educator, scholar and author, specializing in the study of information and communication technology with a focus on ethics. Formally educated in philosophy and media studies, his teaching and research synthesize the hype of high-technology with the rigor and insight of contemporary critical analysis. He is the author of over 50 scholarly journal articles and book chapters and has published 7 books. He is the managing editor and co-founder of the International Journal of Žižek Studies and co-editor of the Indiana University Press series in Digital Game Studies. He currently holds the position of Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University, and his teaching has been recognized with numerous awards.
Free and open to the UT community and general public – Follow us on Facebook
Hacking Big Data
The Media Ethics Initiative Presents:
Hacking Big Data: Discovering Vulnerabilities in a Sociotechnical Society
Dr. danah boyd
Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and the Founder of Data & Society
March 6, 2018 — 5:00-6:30PM — BMC 1.202 — [Video of talk here]
Data-driven and algorithmic systems increasingly underpin many decision-making systems, shaping where law enforcement are stationed and what news you are shown on social media. The design of these systems is inscribed with organizational and cultural values. Often, these systems depend on the behavior of everyday people, who may not act as expected. Meanwhile, adversarial actors also seek to manipulate the data upon which these systems are built for personal, political, and economic reasons. In this talk, danah will unpack some of the unique cultural challenges presented by “big data” and machine learning, raising critical questions about fairness and accountability. She will describe how those who are manipulating media for lulz are discovering the attack surfaces of new technical systems and how their exploits may undermine many aspects of society that we hold dear. Above all, she will argue that we need to develop more sophisticated ways of thinking about technology before jumping to hype and fear.
Dr. danah boyd is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, the founder and president of Data & Society, and a Visiting Professor at New York University. Her research is focused on addressing social and cultural inequities by understanding the relationship between technology and society. Her most recent books – “It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens” and “Participatory Culture in a Networked Age” – examine the intersection of everyday practices and social media. She is a 2011 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Director of both Crisis Text Line and Social Science Research Council, and a Trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brown University, a master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab, and a Ph.D in Information from the University of California, Berkeley.
Co-sponsored by the Global Media Industry Speaker Series
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The Real Ethics of Fake News
The Media Ethics Initiative and Center for Media Engagement Present:
The Real Ethics of Fake News
Dr. Scott R. Stroud
Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin
February 27 — 2-3:30PM — BMC 5.208
Is fighting fake news as simple as it seems to be? What ethical challenges will our efforts to stomp out fake news create? More and more attention is being directed at the impact of fake news on American democracy. Scholars in a range of fields are attempting to determine who is behind fake news propaganda efforts, what its effects are, and how to combat it using technological means. This study looks at the ethical issues raised in the fight against fake news. By developing an outline of a pragmatist media ethics, this article examines the complex ethical terrain of the seemingly simple problem of fake news. Additionally, the pragmatist approach to fake news also allows us to highlight the conflicting values and outcomes at stake in our attempts to conceptualize and eradicate this new ethical challenge in our social media environments. Such an imaginative engagement with the phenomenon of fake news on its own terms is an essential first step in diagnosing its ethical challenges and potential solutions.
Dr. Scott Stroud is the Director of the Media Ethics Initiative and an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His research covers a range of topics in communication and philosophy. He is the author of John Dewey and the Artful Life (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011), Kant and the Promise of Rhetoric (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014), and A Practical Guide to Ethics: Living and Leading with Integrity (co-authored with Rita Manning, Westview Press, 2007). He has published work on a variety of topics in media ethics, including blogging ethics, revenge porn, and the online activism of Anonymous.
Free and open to the UT community and general public
For further information, contact Dr. Scott Stroud
Idealized Images of Women in the Media
The Media Ethics Initiative Presents:
The Preference for Idealized Imagery in the Media and Detrimental Self-Perceptions Among Women – When does it Begin?
Photo: Petr Kratochvil / CC0
Dr. Kate Pounders
Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations
University of Texas at Austin
February 6 (Tuesday) – 3:30-4:30PM – CMA 5.136
A large body of work has documented exposure to idealized and unattainable imagery in the media in the form of body size has a negative impact on young women. Previous research has primarily used social comparison as the theoretical framework to examine these effects. This talk will highlight a study that examined the impact of idealized imagery on both ad and self-outcomes with college women, as well as an ongoing study that examines these effects in girls 8-10 years old.
Dr. Kate Pounders is a consumer psychologist who investigates emotions, goals, and the self. Her research focuses on the role of emotion and identity in the contexts of communication strategy effectiveness and health communication. Dr. Pounders is especially interested in the role that emotion and gender identity play in understanding women’s reactions to persuasion strategy and health issues. Other areas of interest include motivation and information processing. She has published work in the Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Health Psychology, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Current Issues in Advertising, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Medical Internet Research, and the Journal of Communications in Healthcare. She is also a member of the Association for Consumer Research, the Academy of Marketing Science, and the American Academy of Advertising.
Free and open to the UT community and general public
For further information, contact Dr. Scott Stroud
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