How to be a Better Voter
In an age of misinformation and disinformation, CU journalism chair Elizabeth Skewes provides insight on how to be a well-informed citizen, consider your vote and understand the media’s role in electoral politics.
September 3 marks two months until the 2020 presidential election. For first-time and young voters, this 2019 TEDxCU Talks by Elizabeth Skewes, the chair of the journalism department at CU Boulder, provides insight into media-use patterns and explores questions of media bias.
Skewes researches news practices and the media’s role in electoral politics, and is currently working on two new areas; one involving media coverage of mass tragedies and the other on the efficacy of immersive storytelling. She is the author of “Message Control: How News Is Made on the Presidential Campaign Trail.”
Skewes’ interest in politics first began when she was 9-years-old, passing out flyers on car windshields in Maryland for a gubernatorial election, and inspired her to follow that curiosity into academia. Skewes has an undergraduate degree in political science from UCLA, a master’s in journalism from Ohio State and a doctorate in public communication from Syracuse University. After working as a reporter for newspapers in West Virginia, Florida, New York and Colorado, Skewes reentered academia. She is currently the chair of CU Boulder’s Department of Journalism and interim chair of APRD.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Photo courtesy by TEDxCU.
