The Fourth Estate in a Post-Truth World: A Conversation Between Jim Dwyer and Dorothea Hahn

As part of the conference “What’s Going On: Reflections on Truth, Politics, Democracy and Language,” Deutsches Haus at NYU presents a panel discussion featuring the New York Times journalist Jim Dwyer, and the Tageszeitung’s (TAZ’s) New York correspondent Dorothea Hahn, which will be moderated by Professor Marcia Pally.

Though fake news is not a new phenomenon, it has taken on a new dimension under the Trump administration with the broadened reach of digitization and social media proliferation. This panel discussion featuring distinguished journalists from the U.S. and Germany will reflect on what steps need to be taken, both on a domestic as well as on an international level, to hold Donald Trump and his administration (as well as populist movements in Europe) accountable for their actions. Our panelists will also discuss the erosion of public trust in the media and what strategies journalists can pursue to maintain or restore credibility in a post-truth world; how to counteract the amplification of misinformation campaigns and fake news, and whether/how journalism and media companies need to evolve from here in order to ensure that fact prevails over fiction.

Panelists:

Jim Dwyer, a native New Yorker, has spent most of his professional life covering the city as a reporter, columnist and author. He joined the New York Times in May 2001 after stints at the Daily News, New York Newsday and several papers in northern New Jersey. His work for The New York Times has included coverage of 9/11, the Iraq War, the 2004 presidential campaign and law enforcement surveillance of political activities. He has written the “About New York” column since 2007. The winner of the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for commentary and a co-recipient of the 1992 Pulitzer for breaking news, Mr. Dwyer is also the author or co-author of six books. His daughter is getting married later this month.

Dorothea Hahn is a German journalist with a long career covering international affairs. She grew up in Cologne and has an advanced degree in Political Science from the University of Hamburg. She has had long stints as a journalist based in Mexico City, Berlin, Paris, Washington DC and now New York. She has reported for several newspapers, magazines, and radio stations, and while based in Paris regularly appeared on French TV networks. Since 2010, she has been the US correspondent for the German daily, tageszeitung, based in Berlin. Last year the Verlag C.H.Beck (Munich) published her biography Hillary – ein Leben im Zentrum der Macht (Hillary – a Life in the Center of Power).

Marcia Pally teaches at New York University in Multilingual Multicultural Studies, at Fordham University, and is a regular guest professor at the Theology Faculty of Humboldt University, Berlin. She has spoken at the World Economic Forum (Davos) and has recently been awarded the Mercator Guest Professorship as well as grants from the German Academic Exchange Service and Thyssen Foundation. Her most recent book is Commonwealth and Covenant: Economics, Politics, and Theologies of Relationality (2016). In addition to her academic work, Prof. Pally has been a columnist in the U.S. and Europe for the past 24 years, writing for Religion News Service, Religion and Ethics, The New York Times, The Guardian, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, among other periodicals.

“The Fourth Estate in a Post-Truth World: A Conversation Between Jim Dwyer and Dorothea Hahn” is a DAAD-sponsored event.