David Axelrod, preeminent political strategist and host of “The Axe Files” podcast on CNN, will share his views on disinformation and its impact on American politics with editors and publishers at the annual conference of the California News Publishers Association (CNPA).
CNPA’s Capital Conference, CapCon 2023, will engage attendees in conversations centered on rebuilding trust in news media. A Gallup poll earlier this year revealed that only 16 percent of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers. The slide in trust has occurred against a backdrop of rising dependence on social media for “news.”
Axelrod, who served as chief strategist to President Barack Obama and then, following his time in the White House, headed the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, has been outspoken about his concern for democracy given the public’s view of the media ecosystem.
“Disinformation and conspiracy theories, turbocharged and micro-targeted by the new tools social media and big data provide, are a clear and present danger to democracies,” Axelrod remarked at a symposium on the topic earlier this year. “They have become weapons with which to foment mistrust in our institutions, sow division and even political violence. But combating them is a complex challenge.”
Axelrod joins a group of headliners at CapCon 2023 with widely divergent views of politics, media and social issues that nonetheless share deep concerns about disinformation’s impact on American society.
“It is extremely important for our members to hear from David,” said CNPA President and CEO Charles Ford Champion II. “He’s a journalist who lives up to the meaning of the words fair and objective, willing to listen to all sides of the story, dedicated to fact-based reporting and as a bedrock of an informed democracy. We are so fortunate to have him on our program.”
CapCon 2023 will take place from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento, CA. In addition to Axelrod, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, journalist and author Brian Karem, Google VP of News Richard Gingras, Reuters Institute research project leader Dr. Benjamin Toff, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, Real Clear Politics founder Tom Bevan and Check My Ads Founder Claire Atkin will appear at the conference.
Details and registration: CapCon.2023.com
1/23/23: Corrects to remove Frances Haugen, who will not appear.
About CNPA
CNPA is a non-profit trade association representing daily and weekly California newspapers and digital news media. Its mission is to protect and serve the common interests of news media so that they can deliver democracy using the highest ideals, ethics and traditions of journalism to inform their communities.
