Journalism discussion fills to capacity

News about Anna Nicole Smith’s death proves to be more popular in today’s media than the situation in Iraq, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation said Thursday.\nVanden Heuvel spoke during a panel discussion about “What’s Right and Wrong with the Media,” which was sponsored by the IU School of Journalism and The Nation magazine. The session attracted an overflowing crowd of students, professors and local citizens.\n Vanden Heuvel, along with distinguished scholar, author and IU alum Stephen Cohen and associate professor of telecommunications, Julia Fox, spoke to a group of more than 200 people about the responsibilities of today’s media.\nThe Nation is the oldest weekly news magazine in the country. It prides itself on being objective, reporting fairly and bringing topics that are often “under the radar” to light, vanden Heuvel said. \n“Local struggles, local activism are the kind of topics we find, because they obviously matter to the people in local communities,” she said. “By putting those topics on the country’s agenda, it can become part of the mainstream and hopefully get results.”\nThe three panelists discussed ways the media could improve its public service. \nWhen vanden Heuvel spoke about her views on what is wrong with the media today, she said the line between news and entertainment is no longer a blur. \n“With the tragic anniversary of 9/11 coming up, these are perilous times in which the news needs to demand and act as watchdogs, not lapdogs to the public,” vanden Heuvel said.\nCohen blames not only the media, but the political system journalism follows. \n“Nobody wants to stray from mainstream, yet nobody can tell you what mainstream is because American mainstream is very narrow,” he said. \nWith the Internet providing mass amounts of unfiltered communication to readers, it’s often hard for readers to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate information, the panelists said.\n“The best way to become educated is to be at a public university, full of diversity and broad topics, read a lot and become a critical minded person,” Cohen said. \nCohen said we have created elites in media that aren’t held accountable, and that many people that should have apologized have not. He said the best way to rise above the ever increasing power of the elites is for the public to insist the people not doing their jobs step down.\nModerator and School of Journalism assistant professor Mike Conway said he was extremely happy with the turnout, especially with the broad spectrum of audience members, ranging from students and professors to community members. \n“One of the great things about Bloomington is the amount of passion and diversity that it has to offer, especially in discussions such as these,” he said.