About The Event

The ubiquity of social media has also brought the explosive spread of false ‘facts’ and increased distrust in traditional news — so much so that disinformation, especially combined with strong partisan feeling, has become an existential threat to our democracy.

Political beliefs now determine not only the candidates you choose to support, but also the facts you will accept; and the media you consume influences not only the opinions you will hear, but also the truths you will believe.
Can the government take action to regulate misinformation without impinging on the right to free speech? Can we hold social media companies to account for the devastating impact of their algorithmic news feeds? To what degree, if at all, should immunity continue to exist for internet companies? What does the future of news look like when we cannot agree on a common truth?

Join The Common Good to explore how we can save truth, free speech, and the news, in conversation with an incredible group of experts including former Congressman David Jolly, former Dean of Harvard Law School Martha Minow, and former Chairman of the FCC Newton Minow. This panel will be moderated by Rick Salomon.

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Former Congressman David Jolly served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2014 – 2017. Known for his fierce independent streak and bipartisan approach, Jolly has held virtually every position in Congress, from intern to Member, and has worked outside the Congress as an attorney and political consultant, as well as in specialty finance. Today, Jolly serves as Chairman of the Serve America Movement and can often be seen as a policy and politics analyst on MSNBC and NBC. Jolly's work has been published in Time, USA Today, Roll Call, the Washington Post, and CNN.com, among many other news sources. Renouncing his affiliation several years ago with the Republican Party, Jolly is now an Independent.

Martha Minow is an expert on Constitutional Law, the former Dean of Harvard Law School, and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. She writes and teaches about digital communications, democracy, privatization, military justice, and ethnic and religious conflict, and is an expert in human rights and advocacy for racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities. Her newest book, Saving The News, offers a detailed argument of how our government has interfered in America's media landscape and charts a path for reform.

Newton Minow is a pioneer in broadcasting, and a former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission with over five decades of experience in all aspects of the communication industry. He was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for public service. He has served on the Boards of Encyclopedia Britannica, the Chicago Tribune, the RAND Corporation, CBS Corporation, the Commission on Presidential Debates, and many more. In his speech criticising broadcasters for not doing more to serve the public interest, he famously coined the phrase television as the “vast wasteland.”

Richard Salomon, a Harvard-trained lawyer and CEO of Vantage Point Consultants, has advised 400 of the Fortune 500 on ways to optimize the expenditure of corporate legal dollars. A co-founder of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Salomon sits on many other Boards from the Of Many Institute at NYU, to the Interfaith Youth Corps, and the President's Council of the Auburn Theological Seminary. He is a frequent moderator and speaker at many venerable institutions, including the 92nd St Y, Temple Emanu-El's Streicker Center, the University of Chicago, the Cornell Institute of Politics, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Alliance For Justice, and, of course, The Common Good.