EWTN News and Franciscan University to host journalism conference on ‘post-truth world’

Washington D.C., Mar 8, 2023 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

“Journalism does not come so much by choosing a profession as by launching oneself on a mission,” Pope Francis said in a 2021 address to journalists. “Your mission is to explain the world, to make it less obscure, to make those who live in it less afraid of it and look at others with greater awareness, and also with more confidence.”

This weekend, March 10–11, EWTN News and Franciscan University of Steubenville are partnering to host a conference titled “Journalism in a Post-Truth World,” focusing on the mission of Catholics in the journalistic and media industries.

Registration is open to the general public for in-person and livestream attendance. To register click here. 

The conference, which will be held at Washington, D.C.’s Museum of the Bible, aims to confront the challenges facing Catholics in the journalistic world in a society that is increasingly antagonistic toward Christianity, Catholicism, and even truth itself.

“Journalism today requires a commitment to the truth and the highest journalistic principles, even though that commitment brings ridicule and attacks by many in legacy media and other journalists more interested in advocacy and ideology than truth and fact,” the conference website states. 

“There is no question that we live in a post-truth era, a time when objective facts are less important in shaping public opinion than emotions or feelings,” said Michael Warsaw, chief executive officer of EWTN. “And the field of journalism is both on the front lines of this new phenomenon and also an active participant in its spread across modern culture.”

The conference will feature talks and panels with notable speakers representing a wide array of viewpoints in the Catholic media world, including Franciscan University president Father Dave Pivonka, National Review editor Kathryn Jean Lopez, Fox News correspondent Lauren Green, The Daily Signal senior reporter Mary Margaret Olohan, and many more.

Among the topics to be discussed by the panels are “Bias in Journalism,” “Social Media and Its Role in Modern Journalism,” “Covering the Catholic Church,” and “Free Speech and Global Journalism.”

“I’m grateful to EWTN News for collaborating with us on this timely and important conference,” Pivonka said. “I’m confident it will give participants renewed hope and many practical tools to prosper in an often hostile, biased media landscape.”