Political Communication Interest Group Will Sponsor a Preconference Luncheon Workshop at AEJMC 2011

Join us on Tuesday, August 9, 11 a.m – 12:15 p.m. for a pre-conference luncheon titled Political Entertainment, Ethics, and the Midterm Elections. The luncheon is co-sponsored with the St. Louis Journalism Review and here's more info:

Political dialogue in the public sphere is becoming more polarized, as legal boundaries shift and as news practices evolve. This situation is exacerbated by the increasingly complicated relationship between political entertainment and the election process as more political actors and voices enter into the public sphere through movies, TV shows, commercials, and political news coverage.

Pundits have observed that there are opportunities for political advertisements to be constructed in a misleading way, as corporations and other organizations not affiliated with political campaigns enter into the fray of politics and contribute their voices to the public political dialogue, while being allowed to keep information about their donors confidential. As political dialogue increasingly falls to the lowest common denominator, issues and ethical principles can get obscured as the cacophony of voices seek to be heard in the public sphere.

The panelists will be addressing the following questions:

• What can journalists do to keep up with the ethical and legal changes occurring in the political campaign process?

• Can ethical principles and political entertainment co-exist?

• How can society cope with the different ethical standards being practiced by the different political actors?

• How can ethical standards be maintained in this increasingly polarized political environment?

• What are some possible solutions?

Speakers:

• William Babcock, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, editor, Gateway Journalism Review, former senior international news editor/writing coach, Christian Science Monitor.

• Jo Mannies, political reporter, St. Louis Beacon

• William Freivogel, J.D., Southern Illinois-Carbondale, former editorial writer and Washington assistant bureau chief, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Moderator – Anne Golden Worsham, Brigham Young