NBC News’ Chuck Todd to headline series on media and politics

Chuck Todd, NBC News political director and moderator of “Meet the Press,” is among several nationally prominent journalists and media experts who will participate in a three-part weekly series at Furman University titled “Media and Politics in a Post-Truth Era.”

The series will begin Thursday, Aug. 24 with a program titled “The Rise of Fake News: How, Why and What’s at Stake.”

Todd will be the keynote speaker for the Aug. 31 program, “Alternative Facts and Partisan Media: Missing Walter Cronkite,” while the series will conclude on Sept. 7 with “Winning the Information War: Where Do We Go from Here?”

The first and third sessions will take place in the Younts Conference Center.  Session two with Chuck Todd will be held in McAlister Auditorium.

Michael Oreskes is senior vice president of news and editorial director at National Public Radio.

The Straight Talk Series is hosted by the Riley Institute at Furman and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The cost for all three sessions is $35 ($25 for OLLI members) or $15 per session. Registration is required and is available through this link.

In addition to Todd, the series will feature Jonathan Albright, research director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University; Michael Oreskes, senior vice president of news and editorial director at National Public Radio; Erika Hobbs, communications director and program manager for the News Literacy Project; Alexios Mantzarlis, leader of the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network; and Jason Tanz, site director at WIRED.

The sessions will be moderated by Furman Politics and International Affairs Professor Danielle Vinson.

As NBC News political director, Todd spearheads the network’s political coverage, offering his analysis and translation of Beltway politics across all platforms. Since 2014, he has been moderator of the popular Sunday morning program, “Meet the Press,” where he has interviewed top political figures like Secretary Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker Paul Ryan, General Colin Powell and President Trump. He also serves as host of a weekday show on MSNBC, “MTP Daily.”

Jason Tanz is site director at WIRED.

Todd was a primary anchor for NBC’s primetime 2016 presidential election coverage, including the network’s special reporting on the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention as well as the three presidential debates. He was also the NBC News’ chief White House correspondent from 2008 to 2014.

A detailed schedule of events for the “Media and Politics in a Post-Truth Era” series, along with speaker bios and registration information, is available at furman.edu/straight-talk.

More information is also available by contacting OLLI at 864-294-2998.