The League of Women Voters of Nebraska’s two virtual webinars on media literacy and the journalism profession — which were presented live on Nov. 4 and Nov. 11 via Zoom — are now available for viewing via YouTube.  

The Nov. 4 webinar, “Media Literacy in an Age of Disinformation,” can be found on the YouTube link above left. The webinar focused on how to determine if news is credible, how to improve the relationship between the media and the public, and the importance of the First Amendment.

The Nov. 11 webinar, “On the Beat: Reflections from Journalists on Their Profession,” can be found on the YouTube link above right.  It  featured journalists with ties to Nebraska working at national, state and local media outlets. They discussed their careers and important issues in the profession. 

We continue to promote these videos with  high school and college students interested in learning more about these topics. 

The media literacy webinar on Nov. 4  featured Tobin Beck, an assistant professor of journalism and political science at Concordia University with more than 30 years of experience in journalism; Peggy Rupprecht, an associate professor of journalism and public relations at Creighton University, where she teaches classes on media and digital literacy; Ryan Teten, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, who studies the impact of social media on information consumption; and Mason Walker, a research analyst focusing on journalism and media at the Pew Research Center headquartered in Washington, DC. 

The professional journalist webinar on Nov. 11 featured Sharon Chen, an anchor for WOWT in Omaha with television broadcast experience in Nebraska, Colorado, Hawaii and California; Dee Ann Divis, who reports for Al Jazeera on commercial space, NASA, robotics, and emerging technology sectors; Matthew Hansen, editor of the Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska’s first independent nonprofit newsroom focused on investigative journalism and feature stories; and Tony Herrman, local government reporter at the Hastings Tribune, where he covers Hastings and Adams County councils, boards and commissions.