Live from the Republican National Convention: First Day

Although convention events were cancelled today, my symposium events at JSA continued.

Today's focus was critically being able to anyalyze media information and how to properly use "social media". We started the day at a Politicio "Playbook" breakfast that was moderated by Mike Allen (Politico White House correspondent). But, it was who he was interviewing that was exciting... It was Karl Rove!

Whether you agree with him or not, he is brilliant to listen to. He elaborated on how this election mirrored other election cycles but was unique in its own way.

After listening to him we moved on to the main part of our day at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalism. The morning was a focus on finding truth in a complex media. We heard from Mr. Bill Adair, an editor for Politifact, Al Tompkins, a journal ethicist, and Mitch Davis, vice president for Fox News Radio. The afternoon concluded with a lecture on how to effectively use social media that was orated by Emmy award winner Regina McCombs.

The main take away from all the speakers was that it is up to the voter to find the truth. Politicians lie, media distorts, and we fall for it. If we truly want to be informed voters we have to research what is told to us, otherwise we will always be caught in the cycle of misinformation.

I have challenged myself, and I challenge you to be an informed voter. Go to Politifact, critically analyze what you hear because then we can separate fact from fiction. No network is perfect, no politician is perfect, and no journalist is perfect. But, we have the ability to hold them accountable, and I hope we can all be a better voter in this upcoming election.

Goodnight everyone! I look forward to bringing you updates from convention speakers tomorrow night.