Media Summit Panelists Talk of Diversity in Media

The 2015 Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit was held today inside the Sheldon Ballroom. The four panelists discussed diversity and equality inside media.

The panelists that participated in the the discussion were Michelle Garcia, Kendis Gibson, Dave Longley, and Jennifer Sanders.

The theme of diversity during the summit was prevalent but aspiring journalists and broadcasters heard stories from the panelists that were truly inspiring.

One of the most interesting stories of came from Longley who told his story of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and still continuing to report. Longley did not publicly announce that he had multiple sclerosis until it started to effect his speech.

Longley explains that his platform has helped bring awareness to MS and while his speech may be effected he is still capable of reporting.

The discussion continued about diversity and panelists suggested ways in which students could help change their view on other cultures.

Sanders and other panelists agreed that students need to force themselves out of there comfort zone in order have a better understanding of the world. They believe that taking the opportunity to go away to school helps students learn for themselves the differences of culture.

The panelists explained what role media played in diversity. Especially when addressing the problem of race in new stories.

“I think the more we talk about it the less awkward it would be”- said Michelle Garcia, who explained earlier that she has turned down stories because it used negative stereotypes.

The panelists explained that stories that might not necessarily seem newsworthy to management need to be pushed in order to get away from the agenda that is formed by new reporting.

After the discussion was finished students were given the opportunity to come and ask their own questions. The questions that were asked had a lot to do with issued in the media involving race but some had to do with race effecting the chance of getting a job.

The crowd was very engaged in what the panelists had to say SUNY Oswego student Mary Trimble said “I think that comparing to last year this was more personal, the commentator brought in their own experiences, and that was very helpful in connecting to them”.

SUNY Oswego Junior Nick Jonaides said “ I definitely think that this years media summit was better than the last because the panelists themselves were younger, people like Charlie Rose last year were not as easily related to students” and that “students this year took more out of it”.

Biochemist Major Devin Busch said that “This is not something that I would normally attend but had to because of a class” while adding “it opened my eyes to a lot things that go on in the media that have to do with stereotypes”.