This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of All the President’s Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s account of their own highly influential reporting on Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the leading Republican candidate—a former president, twice impeached—is facing multiple indictments related to his actions in the Oval Office, while the Democratic incumbent is navigating threats of impeachment and the political fallout of his son’s legal problems. The media breathlessly reports on these and other scandals, balancing journalistic rigor and integrity with the economic imperative to chase views, clicks, and ratings. This panel will consider the altered landscape of investigative reporting in the twenty-first century, as norms have shifted amid charges of "fake news" and liberal bias. Can investigative reporting still change minds (and the world), or does it simply highlight (and heighten) existing divisions?  

Panelists:

Victor Pickard, C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy, Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania

Victor Pickard is co-director of the Media, Inequality & Change (MIC) Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published six books, including the award-winning America’s Battle for Media Democracy and Democracy Without Journalism? Confronting the Misinformation Society.

Lindsay Gellman, Journalist and Adjunct Faculty, Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, New York University

Lindsay Gellman is a journalist based in New York whose work focuses on uncovering patterns of harm in the health industry. Her investigations have appeared in publications including Bloomberg Businessweek, WIRED, and New York Magazine. She is an editor at The Dial, a new online magazine with a global focus. She also teaches a graduate reporting seminar at NYU.

Hans Schmidt, Associate Professor of Communications, Penn State Brandywine
Hans Schmidt’s research and teaching focus on journalism and media literacy, and he serves as coordinator of the Honors Programs at Penn State Brandywine. He is editor of the recently published collection of essays Issues in Contemporary American Journalism (Routledge 2023). Prior to becoming an academic, Hans worked as a journalist and photographer.

Moderator:

Jess Rafalko, Graduate Student, Department of English, Penn State

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