Media coverage of presidential candidates’ views on minority groups will be the focus of a panel discussion at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Wednesday evening (April 27).
The program, at 7 p.m. in Room 101 in Hibbard Humanities Hall, is free and open to the general public. It is organized and sponsored by the UW-Eau Claire campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Panelists will include Dan Schillinger, news director of WQOW-TV (Channel 18) in Eau Claire; Joseph Radske, SPJ’s Region 6 director; and Steven Majstorovic, UW-Eau Claire professor of political science. The discussion will be moderated by Peter Hart Brinson, UW-EC assistant professor of sociology and communication.
Kiri Salinas, president of the student SPJ chapter, noted that the topic is important because presidential candidates’ “views on race and ethnicity can make or break their campaigns.
“It can easily be a tough topic to deal with, especially in the news business,” she added. “With racial tensions that occur in our society, it can be hard to cover this topic without hurting anyone in the process.”
Salinas said the topic was chosen “to get people on campus and in the community a little more educated and give media outlets a chance to express how they handle these situations.”