NEW YORK—On September 7, The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute (MPJI) and the Acton Institute will host a one-day symposium on Tech, New Media and Virtue at The King’s College in New York City. The event will address the uniquely 21st Century challenges to virtue in the tech age. The day will kick-off with breakfast at 8:30am and end roughly around 5:30pm.
Paul Glader, director of MPJI, says, “Too often, Christian voices have taken a backseat in the cultural dialogue on tech ethics. As the issues of big tech and humanity reach a fever pitch in 2019, now, more than ever, is the time to lean into this important conversation.”
The symposium aims to address the following questions, among others:
· Should Big Tech companies and social media giants create public spaces where free speech abounds? Or should they govern speech as traditional publishers do?
· How can citizens become more media literate in a digital age where social media blends and blurs content?
· How do we retain and maintain our human dignity in a digital age in which tech companies profit by addicting humans to tech products used to harvest data?
· How do free societies guard against information pollution while also maintaining freedom of speech?
· Should citizens be skeptical or resistant to technology and if so, how?
· How can humans flourish in the 21st Century?
Keynote speakers include Professor of History and Communications at Columbia University, Dr. Richard John, and author of “Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat,” Naomi Schaefer Riley.
Panelists include Silicon Valley technologist Aaron Ginn, former Experience Design Consultant for Google and BEACON founder Joe Toscano, Associate Professor of Communication at Wheaton College Dr. Read Schuchardt, media scholar Joni Siani, tech ethicist David Ryan Polgar, media ethics and first amendment scholar, Father Jordi Pujol, PhD and Subverse co-founder and reporter Emily Molli.
The symposium will be moderated by the Acton Institute’s Associate Director of Program Outreach, Dan Churchwell, and Associate Professor of Journalism at The King’s College and MPJI Director, Paul Glader.
Learn more and reserve tickets today at bit.ly/techmediavirtue.
About the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute
The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute (MPJI) was formed in New York City in 2014 with the mission to provide education, training and professional development for journalists at the high school, undergraduate and professional levels. Based at The King’s College, MPJI is named after the late John McCandlish Phillips, a legendary reporter at The New York Times.
About the Acton Institute
With its commitment to pursue a society that is free and virtuous, the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is a leading voice in the national environmental and social policy debate. The Acton Institute is uniquely positioned to comment on the sound economic and moral foundations necessary to sustain humane environmental and social policies.
The Acton Institute is a nonprofit, ecumenical think tank located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Institute works internationally to "promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles."
Contact:
Susanna Loe
MPJI Program Assistant
sloe@tkc.edu
646-930-0595