Media Ethic and Fusion Conferences press release
Sept. 28, 2020
The annual student-run UCO Media Ethics and Fusion conferences are collaborating this year to present a two-day Facebook Live event with local, national and international speakers addressing social responsibility in difficult times.
“The annual Fusion Conference and Media Ethics conferences provide our students with important opportunities for professional growth,” said Dr. Mary Carver, chair of the UCO Mass Communication Department. “Panelists and speakers at these events are not only extremely interesting but give insight into issues we do not always discuss in classes.”
Both conferences will carry the theme, “Social Responsibility: Your Role in 2020,” and both will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 5-6 via Facebook Live. Speakers will be joining via Zoom instead of in person this year due to the pandemic.
The conferences are being organized by students in the Mass Communication Department’s Media Conference Leadership class and the student chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. Joe Hight, the journalism ethics chair, is the adviser for the leadership class.
“Considering the state of the world right now, the team and I felt that social responsibility was the obvious and most important topic to address at the conference,” said Amanda Siew, the conferences’ overall director. “We’ve been doing our best to adapt to the new normal and organize these virtual conferences so that students can still have the opportunity to learn from and network with professionals in communications.”
The Media Ethics Conference will kick off the two-day event with three panels and a Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Suzan Shown Harjo as the keynote. UCO President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar will provide the welcome.
The Media Ethics Conference will include a panel on the impact of social responsibility and the media on different communities, a panel on the conflict between science and politics in media coverage, a keynote from Native American activist Suzan Shown Harjo on journalism versus activism, and a panel addressing whether it’s the media’s ethical duty to be socially responsible.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, “Social Responsibility: Your Role in 2020.” will also be the theme of the annual Fusion Conference via Facebook Live. This conference is being organized by the PRSSA chapter. Dr. Carver will launch it at 9 a.m.
The Fusion Conference will include a panel on practical applications of social responsibility on campus; a keynote from Ayanna Najuma, a marketing company owner and civil rights activist, on how one individual can impact social justice; a panel on social responsibility; a special Q&A with Jennifer Pearsall of New York City’s Emergency Management Department on leadership in crisis; and a panel on social responsibility and politics.
Student leaders of the conferences are Amanda Siew, Kellie Lewis, Ting-An Yen and Yu Xiang.
For more information, go to (website address).
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INFORMATION BOX:
“Social Responsibility: Your Role in 2020” Media Ethics, Fusion Conferences.
Media Ethics Conference:
When:
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5
Via Facebook Live https://www.facebook.com/ucomediaethicsandfusionconferences/
and UCO Mass Communication Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/uco.mcom
Opening introduction: UCO President Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar
First panel: 9:15 to 10:20 a.m. “Exploring Social Responsibility in Different Communities.”
Moderator:
Yvette Walker, assistant dean, University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Panelists:
Bobby Ross Jr., editor-in-chief, The Christian Chronicle.
Dalton Walker, national correspondent, Indian Country Today.
Juniette Gutierrez, Habitat of Humanity.
MeShawn Green, Inclusive Community Advocate, University of Central Oklahoma.
Second panel: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. “Science vs. Politics”
Moderator:
Andy Moore, executive director, Let's Fix This and Freedom of Information Oklahoma.
Panelists:
Dr. Jiann-Fa Yan, vice president, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
Joe Dorman, chief executive officer, Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (former gubernatorial candidate).
Joe Wertz, senior environment climate reporter, Center for Public Integrity.
Kassie McClung, health reporter, The Frontier.
Keynote: 11:40 a.m. to 12: 50 p.m. “Journalism vs. Activism in the Media.”
Speaker:
Suzan Shown Harjo, guest curator and editor, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, President, Morning Star Institute, and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree.
Moderator:
Joe Hight, Edith Kinney Gaylord Endowed Chair of Journalism Ethics, Mass Communication Department, University of Central Oklahoma.
Third panel: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. “Should the News Media be Socially Responsible?”
Moderator:
David Nelson, Ed.D., University of Central Oklahoma and sports photojournalist, radio sports director and personality.
Panelists:
Jacklyn Chappell, anchor/reporter, KFOR.
JaNae Williams, student editor, The Vista.
Juli Metzger, associate lecturer and 2020 fellow for Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, Ball State University (former Editor of the Year, Gannett).
Mike Sherman, executive editor, Oklahoma Watch.
Fusion Conference:
When:
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6
Via Facebook Live https://www.facebook.com/ucomediaethicsandfusionconferences/
and UCO Mass Communication Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/uco.mcom/
Opening introduction: Dr. Mary Carver, UCO Chair of the Mass Communication Department
First Panel: 9:10 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. “Social Responsibility on Campus.”
Moderator:
Chad Perry, APR, mass communications professor at UCO.
Panelists:
Alyssa Provencio, core faculty, the Master of Public Administration program at UCO.
Jared Scism, assistant director, International House and Programs at UCO.
Timothy Petete, assistant dean, the College of Liberal Arts at UCO.
Keynote: 10:05 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. “The Impact of Social Responsibility in Social Justice.”
Speaker:
Ayanna Najuma, founder, What Lies Between Us, owner of Lincoln-McLeod, a Washington PR firm, and child civil rights activist.
Moderator:
Kellie Lewis, president, PRSSA at UCO.
Second panel: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. “Social Responsibility in Social Media.”
Moderator:
Christian Coleman, vice president, UCO Student Association.
Panelists:
Ashley Glass, senior account executive, Jones PR.
David Skidmore, creative director, SALLT.
Micah Wilson, chapter president, Association of Black Journalists at UCO.
Erick Worrell, executive creative director, OCCC.
Keynote: 12:05 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. “Special Q&A on New York City’s Emergency Management Department on leadership in crises.”
Speaker:
Jennifer Pearsall, Emergency Training Specialist and Planning Section Chief, New York City’s Emergency Management Department.
Moderator:
Dr. Mary Carver, chair, UCO Mass Communication Department.
Third panel: 1:10 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. “The Media, Politics, and You.”
Moderator:
Kayla Stump, president, AD 2OKC.
Panelists:
Emily Lang, co-founder, Price Lang Consulting.
Jarett Jobe, former office of the president, University of Central Oklahoma.
Mary Rosenfelt, chapter president, Native American Journalist Association at UCO.
Peyton Yager, TV journalist, KFOR.