GSPM’s Lara Brown Moderates Panel Discussion on Meaning of ‘Fake News’

Panelists at GW discussed fake news and how media consumption affected the 2016 presidential election.

June 25, 2017

Lara Brown moderates GSPM event on fake news

GSPM Interim Director Lara Brown (left) and Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, MA '97, discuss the term "fake news." (Logan Werlinger/ GW Today)

Lara Brown, Interim Director of the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM), moderated the April 26 Paul O’Dwyer Lecture “Fake News: Spotting Facts & Stopping Fiction.”

GW President Steven Knapp, whose remarks opened the event, introduced Brian O’Dwyer, B.A. ’66, LL.M. ’76 and member of the GSPM board of advisers, who founded the lecture series named after his father.

The event drew a crowd of journalists and political stakeholders to GW’s Jack Morton auditorium to hear the panelists discuss the ways in which digital and social media shaped the 2016 election, and how fake news items made an impact on the electorate.

Panelists included:

  • Mr. Sopan Deb
    The New York Times Culture Reporter
     
  • Ms. Mindy Finn, GSPM MA '10
    Former U.S. Vice Presidential Candidate
    Founder of Empowered Women
     
  • Mr. Major Garrett
    Chief White House Correspondent, CBS News
     
  • Ms. Stephanie Schriock,  GSPM MA '97
    President of Emily's List

According to GW Today, in the era of President Donald Trump, the label “fake news” has taken on new meaning. Journalists had used the words to describe news reports based on falsehoods or originated from an outlet that ignores traditional journalistic standards.

Mr. Trump has turned “fake news” into a phrase that undercuts news reports his administration simply does not like.

Read the full GW Today article