AP/Wong Maye-E
Members of the Markkula Center served as panelists and moderators for the 103rd Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). Originally planned for San Francisco, organizers quickly adapted the conference to a virtual-only format for the first time. The Markkula Center hosted a preconference session on media literacy, and contributed to several panels throughout the four-day conference.
Panels with Markkula presence included:
“Is Media Literacy a Solution to Fake News?” (Executive Director Don Heider moderated the panel, and Assistant Director of Journalism & Media Ethics Anita Varma served as one of four panelists)
“Covering COVID, Black Lives Matter, and the Election: A Conversation to Prepare You to Teach in an Unprecedented Time” (Moderated by Managing Director Thor Wasbotten)
“Teaching Less Extractive Reporting” (Panelist: Anita Varma, who spoke about solidarity journalism)
“Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication Roundtable: Lessons Learned from Our COVID-19 Responses” (Panelist: Thor Wasbotten, past president of ASJMC)
“Race, Racism and Media Law and Ethics Scholarship” (Panelist: Anita Varma)
“AEJMC did a phenomenal job with adapting the conference to our current moment,” said Varma. “I say that both with respect to technical needs for executing on a virtual conference for more than 1,000 people, but also in terms of how timely the discussions were. Journalism educators, researchers, and practitioners held space for each other to address many ethical challenges that 2020 has brought to the fore.”