CapCon panels to localize effects of disinformation on California news publishing

The discussion segments of the program will center on the First Amendment, the state of local media in California post-pandemic, grant opportunities for maintaining and growing newsrooms, and important public notice system updates available to adjudicated publications. Each of the sessions will have disinformation as an overlay for the discussion.

“The selection of the disinformation topic is in line with our strategic interest in making local journalism the most trusted news source in the state, and the nation, for that matter,” said CNPA President and CEO Charles Ford Champion II. “To do that, we decided to put together a program that examined where disinformation comes from, how it impacts readers and voters, and what we can do to combat it.”

The panels drill down on the subject matter. The First Amendment Panel features a constitutional expert from McGeorge School of Law, the head of the First Amendment Coalition in California, and more. The group will tackle the question of whether our free speech rights are being harmed by disinformation and whether dis-informers have rights, too.

A group of publishers and journalists who must deal with reader apprehensions every time they report the news will be part of a panel that discusses how public confidence has been shaken in recent years by the escalation in disinformation. Executive Director Regina Brown-Wilson, California Black Media; and Director of Media Relations Julian Do, Ethnic Media Services; will join Publisher Martha Diaz Aszkenazy, San Fernando Valley Sun; Executive Editor Silas Lyons, Redding Record Searchlight; and Matthew Hall, Opinion editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Knight Foundation VP of News Jim Brady and The Desert Sun Executive Editor Julie Makinen will discuss how publications can bolster their reporting staff through grants from non-profit foundations.

Column Founder and CEO Jake Seaton will lead a discussion on the state of public notice and what new technologies are available to help sustain it.

And CNPA Director Norb Garrett, Picket Fence Media, will conduct a session on post-pandemic business rebounds.