Emilie Gonzalez | PantherNOW Staff
How many times have you scrolled past something on your phone and did not take the time to fact-check that information?
This is an issue that occurs almost daily in the current media landscape with the vast amount of content that is available.
To combat this issue the Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication hosted the Virgil and Joann Smith Thought Leaders Forum Communication Today: Are We Getting the Whole Story? This forum took place on Thursday, Mar. 13, featuring prominent female figures in the media industry.
Keynote speaker Kelley Benham French, Narrative Accountability Editor at The Washington Post was joined by convener Erika Gonzalez, anchor and reporter at CBS News Miami.
The forum started with Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver herself introducing French and Gonzalez.
Gonzalez then explained more about modern communication and offered insights from her personal life within the industry.
“The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. It is not about the final product, it’s about the steps that you put in and the effort that you put into getting there. That is what journalism is to me. When I think about are we getting the whole story, I think well that is kind of up to us and what you are feeding your mind. You get what you pay for. Real journalism is exceptionally time-intensive and expensive. Not only do you get what you pay, you get what you seek. Are you only seeking news from sources that you feel comfortable with and probably agree with? If so, you are not getting the real story.”
She offered wonderful points on how to stay on top of this issue and to get the full story.
Following her answer to the question of whether we are getting the whole story, audience members were able to ask their own questions directly to French.
These questions were asked to French through Gonzalez, who has her own knowledge and personal experience on this topic.
“I can only speak for myself, but I really enjoyed our conversation here and I know I’m walking away with things that I’ve learned and like I said earlier, just really really important reminders as to why it is that we do what we do,” said Erika Gonzalez.
Getting the whole story is not an easy feat. To gain knowledge on topics, when indulging in information from media sources, one has to check where they are getting information from, not be afraid to seek out varying sources, and so much more.
The Kopenhaver Center will continue to host events like these to empower future generations of women in the communications industry.
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