Which Media Can Be Trusted in the Digital Age?
Join the Max Bell School of Public Policy for a panel discussion, co-hosted by the McGill Alumni Association of Toronto, on the future of credibility for journalists and news organizations in the era of so-called 'fake news'.
Last June Elon Musk threatened to launch a ratings platform for journalists, eliciting a hostile reaction from journalists and media observers. A typical response held that journalism isn't the sort of profession whose output can be graded like a taco stand or an Airbnb.
But whether journalists like it or not, some sort of system of ratings and credentials is going to be built; indeed, it is already happening. Many news outlets are banking on trust being the driver of loyalty and engagement-both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail have invested in the Trust Project, designed to do exactly that.
Can journalists be usefully and objectively rated? Should they require professional accreditation? How effective, if at all, are any of the numerous “trust projects” that are currently underway?
Moderator:
Andrew Potter, BA'93, Associate Professor at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and former journalist
Panelists:
Tony Keller, Editorial Page Editor of The Globe and Mail
David Skok, CEO & Editor-in-Chief at The Logic
Jen Gerson, Journalist
About the moderator
Andrew Potter
Andrew Potter is a Canadian author and associate professor at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. He is the former editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Citizen; best known outside Canada for co-authoring The Rebel Sell, with Joseph Heath, and for his 2010 book, The Authenticity Hoax.
About the panelists
Tony Keller
Tony Keller is the Editorial Page Editor of The Globe and Mail. He joined the Globe in 1991 as an editorial writer; in a career of more than 25 years he has also served as editor of The Financial Post Magazine, managing editor of Maclean’s and news anchor on BNN. A native of Montreal, he’s a graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School. He won the National Newspaper Award for editorial writing in 2016, and has been nominated on two other occasions.
David Skok
Before founding The Logic, David was the associate editor and head of editorial strategy at the Toronto Star. Previously, he served as the managing editor and vice-president of digital for the Boston Globe, where he led the organization’s digital transformation, and as the co-creator and director of digital for Global News. David is a leading thinker on digital transformation who has co-published with Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen. He was the 2012 Martin Wise Goodman Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. David has served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism.
Jen Gerson
Jen Gerson is a journalist with more than ten years' experience working in Canada's top newspapers and magazines, including the National Post, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Maclean's and Walrus. She is a regular contributor to CBC's Power and Politics, CBC Calgary's Political Panel. International credits include the National (UAE) and the Washington Post. She is a co-host alongside Justin Ling of, Oppo, Canada's newest political podcast for Canadaland.