Are mainstream news media creating an irrational climate of fear? Does 'the news' reflect your personal experience? Are Americans afraid of the wrong things? Join futurist Paul Saffo (moderator), sociologist Barry Glassner, publisher Jay Harris, and journalist Jim Bettinger to discuss the credibility of current reporting. Related Themes: fear, media

In this conversation with the editors of Newsweek and Time, we think about democratic ideals in the age of consolidated corporate media by exploring some fundamental shifts in the reporting of news: the switch from analytical, fact-based coverage to fair and balanced reporting; the explosive growth of blogs in number and influence and their effect on traditional news journalism; and the re-labeling of mainstream media as liberal. Related Themes: journalism, media

The All Roads Photographers Program of the National Geographic Society recognizes and supports talented photographic storytellers from around the world who are documenting their changing cultures and communities through photography. The program provides a forum for photographers to showcase their work to a global audience and presents the opportunity to engage and experience, firsthand, the voices of these artists as they talk about their photographs. Our forum will feature a panel discussion on documentary photography and democratic ideals. Is documentary photography inherently objectifying? Can comprehensive documentation be done through non-native eyes? Are there universal ethics in documentary work?

Related Themes: culture, media, photography

Join us as Newsweek managing editor Jon Meacham discusses religion, one of the most pervasive yet least understood forces in American life. With reference to his best-selling book, American Gospel, he will use the Founding Fathers’ insistence on religious liberty to illuminate conflicts at work in our country as we approach the first wide-open presidential election since 1952. Related Themes: media, politics, religion

What are we to make of the increasing expression of politics as media experience? How are "new media" (mobile video, YouTube, blogs) influencing political campaigns? What does the future of democratic processes look like with new media as a political force? Join three experts on political messaging for a stimulating conversation on democratic ideals in the age of the electronic town hall. Related Themes: media, politics

In this fourth installment in the IRAQ: REFRAME series with Montalvo Arts Center, we enter into conversation with Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist who went to Iraq in 2003 and embedded himself with Iraqi people. His reports have been published in The Nation, The Guardian, and The Independent. On radio as well as television, he has reported for the BBC, Democracy Now! and numerous other stations around the globe. His writings have recently been collected and published in book form as Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq. Related Themes: Iraq, journalism, media