Newsroom Confidential: Politics and Media 2023
Newsroom Confidential: Politics and Media 2023
When: Wednesdays, Sep 13 – Dec 6
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm ET
Where: West Village F, Room 020, Northeastern University | Livestream
Synopsis
Public policy, politics, and media are closely intertwined. Our Fall 2023 Open Classroom will bring together enrolled Policy, Honors, and Journalism students, practitioners, and the general public to discuss these intersections and to learn from each other during the year before America’s next Presidential election in 2024.
The class will duplicate the immersive experience of a newsroom or a campaign. Students will be reading up on new policy ideas and issues, learning necessary background and context, talking to voters, analyzing the media’s political coverage and coming up with ideas of their own on climate change, race relations and diversity, inequality, foreign policy, social justice, and the economy.
One of the goals of a journalist is to become a “temporary expert” in whatever subject they may cover. Journalists report and comment, but they generally do not make policy. Policy-makers, on the other hand, assess data from various sources, including journalists, synthesize the data in ways that make sense within political, social, economic and cultural contexts, and then make and implement decisions intended to affect the public good. They are thinkers and doers whose decisions can affect large numbers of people. How journalists and policy-makers interact can affect a wide public, for better or worse. As aspiring journalists and policy-makers, you will be asked in this course to place yourself at the intersection of journalism and policy and to examine how the two interact and with what consequences.
Throughout the term we will be joined by journalists, politicians, professors and other experts who will offer their perspectives on the fast-moving policy developments that will be most salient in the 2024 Presidential campaign. This learning forum will be a chance to question and challenge our presenters. Our goal is to understand better the intersection of politics, policy, ethics and the media—and to think about ways politicians, policy-makers and journalists can do their jobs better.
Matriculating students seeking academic credit must register for SPPUA 5225/5226, and participate in class discussions on Wednesdays from 4:35 pm to 5:50 pm. The class is also offered in conjunction with Honors section HONR 3310 Newsroom Confidential.
Weekly lectures and on-line presentations are open to the general public without registration.
Please reach out to neupolicyschool@gmail.com with any questions.
Upcoming Sessions
Where is the country headed as we approach the 2024 election—one of the most crucial in the nation’s history?
Is Trump poised to become the Republican nominee despite federal and state indictments? Will Biden’s age and swirling family issues derail his re-election effort?
What will be the impact of younger voters?
Join us for a probing look at the political and media landscape with:
—John Harwood, former White House correspondent for CNN and columnist for the New York Times
—Erika Allen, Washington Post, Head of Audience Strategy and Growth
—John Ellis, former head of the election unit at Fox News
The conversation will be led by Prof. Jill Abramson, former editor of the New York Times, Prof. Jonathan Kaufman, director of the School of Journalism, and Prof. Ted Landsmark of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Sponsored by the Open Classroom and the Policy School with the School of Journalism and Media Innovation and the College of Arts, Media and Design at Northeastern University
Where is the country headed as we approach the 2024 election—one of the most crucial in the nation’s history?
Can Democrats mobilize their supporters? Will Trump be hurt by his indictments? What are the crucial voting groups, and the crucial swing states, to watch? What will be the impact of younger voters?
Join us for a probing look at the political landscape with:
• Seth Harris, former top aide to President Biden and acting Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration. Harris is currently a fellow at the Burnes Center
• Prof. Maria Elena Villar, chair of the Communications Studies department and an expert on Latino voters
The conversation will be led by Prof. Jill Abramson, former editor of the New York Times, Prof. Jonathan Kaufman, director of the School of Journalism, and Prof. Ted Landsmark of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Sponsored by the Open Classroom and the Policy School with the School of Journalism and Media Innovation and the College of Arts, Media and Design at Northeastern University
The Politics of Abortion
Join us for a probing look at the politics of abortion with:
- Emily Ramshaw, editor of The 19th
- Sophia Downs, Harvard Students for Life
The conversation will be led by Prof. Jill Abramson, former editor of the New York Times, Prof. Jonathan Kaufman, director of the School of Journalism, and Prof. Ted Landsmark of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Sponsored by the Open Classroom and the Policy School with the School of Journalism and Media Innovation and the College of Arts, Media and Design at Northeastern University
How Conservatives Captured the Courts
Foreign Policy
Gender, Trans and LGBTQ Issues and Media Coverage
Boston and the Future of Cities
Global Warming and Political Coverage
Race and the Rise of White Nationalism
AI, Technology, and Politics
Follow the Money
Covering Presidents…and Campaigns
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