(Note: Extended length versions of these episodes with additional content can be heard at the News Over Noise website. )
Hosts: Leah Dajches & Matt Jordan
Episode 3: What’s Missing from Economic News?
Whether your eyelids get heavy at the mere mention of an economic story or you're a seasoned economic news consumer and want to know how you can find reliable, quality reporting, this is a discussion for you. We’re going to talk with Bob Frick, Navy Federal’s Corporate Economist, about what makes for quality—and not so quality—economic reporting and how you can tell the difference. We’ll also discuss how you cut through the buzzwords and vague characterizations to get to the bottom of what’s actually going on.
Guest: Robert Frick is Navy Federal’s Corporate Economist. In that role, he advises Navy Federal leaders on economic conditions and trends, especially those that affect Navy Federal’s 12 million members. He is frequently quoted in the press on issues including GDP, the labor market, consumer spending, and housing. Robert also has an expertise in behavioral economics and worked professionally in that area before joining Navy Federal in 2017. He was also a business and financial journalist for 30 years, having worked 15 years in daily newspaper and 15 years for Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. He holds a BA in Journalism and an MBA from the Pennsylvania State University and has served on the Penn State College of Communications alumni advisory board as well as the Mount Nittany Conservancy Board.
Episode 4: The Danger of the `News Finds Me’ Mentality
Most of us get our information fed to us through our smartphones. Constant bombardment and easy access to headlines, video clips, and sound bites help create the illusion that we are well-informed about the goings-on of our world. But...are we? On the next News Over Noise, we’ll explore what the News Finds Me mentality is, how it impacts civic engagement, and why it might be leaving us less informed than we realize.
Guest: Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Ph.D is a professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the Penn State Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. He's also a Distinguished Research Professor in Political Science at the University of Salamanca, where he directs the Democracy Research Unit (DRU), and a Senior Research Fellow at Universidad Diego Portales in Chile. Homero’s work focuses on how social media, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and other technologies affect society. He's published several books and more than 170 articles and has presented on these topics for different professional organizations and universities around the globe. Homero has been identified as one of the most prolific scholars in Political Communication and Social Media, and these days he’s working on what the News Finds Me mentality means for society and democracy.
News Over Noise is produced by the Penn State, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications and WPSU. This program has been funded by the office of the Executive Vice President and Provost of Penn State and is part of the Penn State News Literacy Initiative.
