UF’s Wilkin Chair Series Focuses on Media Literacy

A communication student speak-off, followed by a presentation by a Columbus Dispatch reporter, will be featured at the Mazza Museum beginning at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18 as part of the University of Findlay 2019-20 Wilkin Chair Series focusing on media literacy. Both presentations will be free and open to the public.

Holly Zachariah, senior metro desk reporter and internship coordinator for The Columbus Dispatch, will discuss “Mountains and molehills: Navigating the changing landscape of today’s media” at 4:45 p.m.

This particular Wilkin Chair Series was designed by Diana Montague, Ph.D., professor and chair of UF’s Communication Department, as a way to examine some of the challenges of developing and maintaining media literacy skills amidst a burgeoning digital environment that has made it more difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.

“The addition of social media to traditional mass media outlets has changed the way people get their news, and new technology has shifted who controls the message, so we will explore how this shift in message control has impacted the way we interpret the information that surrounds us,” Montague explained.

Future activities in this series will include:

.Jan. 22, 2020 – “Fighting Fake News: How to Improve Media Literacy Skills,” Findlay/Hancock County Public Library’s Lindamood Room, 6:30 p.m.; and

.Feb. 4 – “Escape Room” student competition, Shafer Library Learning Commons, 6-9 p.m. Small groups will use media literacy skills to solve puzzles.