Truth, Lies, and the Press

Harvard FAS

We will study central issues in the philosophy of journalism by considering four visions of the role of journalism in democracy and politics more generally: Ida B Wells-Barnett, John Dewey, Walter Lippmann, and Hannah Arendt. Topics include: the relationships between personality and news delivery; what distinguishes different kinds of digital content creation; the many faces, concepts, and roles of objectivity; and the ethics, methods, and political roles of factchecking; whether…