STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Over 130 participants gathered in person and almost 400 tuned in via livestream for the Journalism in a Post-Truth World Conference held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., March 10-11, 2023.

Co-sponsored by Franciscan University of Steubenville and EWTN News, the two-day conference featured in-depth analyses and lively conversations on the most critical challenges in journalism today. Two keynote addresses and six panel discussions covered topics such as the emergence of digital tech-driven business models; media bias and the eclipse of objectivity; the impact of social media and fake news; threats to the First Amendment; and why faith should inspire the highest standards of journalistic professionalism.

The relevance and urgency of the questions raised at the conference were reflected in the religiously and politically diverse audience of journalists present from media outlets such as National Catholic Register, The Washington Post, OSV News, Fox News, CNN, RealClearPolitics, The Catholic Herald, The Spectator, Washington Examiner, National Review, The Daily Signal, Catholic News Agency, The Daily Caller, and GetReligion.

“I’ve been very encouraged by this conference,” said Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, president of Franciscan University who introduced the conference both days. “It was an enlightening conversation about what it looks like to do journalism in a world that doesn’t seem to have any sense of what truth is. It’s vitally important because there’s a spiritual battle going on. If you can control the mind, you can control the heart, and you can control the people. We can’t have a free and peaceful society unless journalists have the integrity to fulfill their mission.”

Several speakers noted the importance of encouraging and educating future journalists as well as supporting young journalists of faith, many of whom were in attendance.

“I hope this conference has shown students and young journalists that the craft of journalism is vitally important for our society and for the Church and encouraged them to be rooted in their faith,” said Michael Warsaw, chairman of the Board and chief executive officer of EWTN. “We need to see journalists getting back to that sense of how they serve the common good through their work.”

The first day of the conference featured presentations on the origins and dynamics of media bias, the impact of social media, and why we need to demand honesty from media outlets and strive for more objectivity.

“I realized journalism was in trouble when I realized the business model had failed,” said panelist Carl Cannon, Washington bureau chief at RealClearPolitics. “You have this model now where you have to kowtow to the mob, and the mobs are siloed. It turns out if you give people what they think they want, that might work economically but it isn’t journalism.”

Terry Mattingly, founder and editor of GetReligion, also spoke about the interplay between new business models and media bias.

“Biased journalism is good business. It also fits the technology. The one thing the internet does well is divide us into small, concrete silos of information where we are not confronted by anybody else who would disagree with us.”

Explaining how transparency has replaced objectivity as the standard of professional journalism, Mattingly concluded that “we need to move away from language of media bias and start pleading for honesty from publications to at least admit they’re not going to cover certain issues with fairness.”

Former representative of the Third District of Illinois Dan Lipinski offered a keynote to close the first day of the conference. Having been the last pro-life and pro-traditional marriage Democrat in Congress and declared a “heretic,” he reflected on how a newly polarized media contributed to his 2021 electoral defeat after 16 years of service.

“What we need to do is to be Catholic first,” he told the audience. “This means adhering to the truth in this post-truth world. It’s not always going to be easy. Sometimes we will be hated. We will have to make personal sacrifices.”

In addition to a crash course in how to cover the Catholic Church in the 21st century, the second day of the conference included wide-ranging presentations on freedom of speech and the role of faith in journalism.

Noting the rising threats to the First Amendment and the recent trend of journalists openly opposing it, Mary Catherine Ham, blogger and regular CNN contributor, said a constitutional right to free speech is only the bare minimum required for a free society. She said it was equally necessary that free speech be actively encouraged and protected.

“Jesus was a pretty good communicator,” she said. “We have a model of bravery and boldness. We have a vision for preparing a new generation for the future. But it requires hard work. It’s something we are called to do. Instead of looking at it as depressing, we can look at it as an awesome opportunity.”

Several panelists struck similar hopeful notes as they spoke about the role of faith and how it can inspire the honesty, courage, and civility required to fulfill the mission of journalism in a post-truth world.

Panelist Franciscan University alumnus Jeremiah Poff ’19, an education reporter at The Washington Examiner, offered a testimony about how his Catholic faith sustained him as a young journalist.

“Having faith in the newsroom is essential,” he told the audience. “It helps me endure some of the darker things that I end up writing about. I try to be respectful of every person who I come in contact with and to be that little beacon of positivity and goodness in their lives.”

The conference concluded with a keynote by Warsaw on Catholic journalists’ call to be truth-tellers, despite rising intolerance toward people of faith.

“Whether it is the spread of fake news itself, the increasing secularization of our culture, the growing skepticism with facts and data, or the increasing hostility among cultural elites toward Catholicism and religion in general, the challenges to preaching the Gospel in this current age are massive,” Warsaw said. However, he said, “we should not allow ourselves to despair or to be discouraged. As Catholics, we know that it is the Good News which will prevail.”

Matthew Bunson, executive editor of EWTN News and a conference organizer, was happy with the attendance and audience engagement.

“I think the conference was a potent reminder for both seasoned journalists and younger journalists of how important it is to live our Catholic faith in the field of journalism,” he said. “In a post-truth world, we need to have journalists who are committed to the faith but at the same time to solid, professional journalism.”

According to Montse Alvarado, newly appointed president and COO of EWTN News, the conference addressed a pressing need to rediscover Catholic identity, which is so poorly defined in the secular world.

“Everyone’s asking, what does it mean to be Catholic?” she said. “They are also asking, what does it mean to be a journalist? If you’re reporting truth, how do you have a religious perspective as a professional reporter and bring people closer to Christ? All these questions were floated and answered in some ways, but we just scratched the surface.”

Other speakers and panelists at the conference included Mary Margaret Olohan, senior reporter, The Daily Signal; Tim Graham, director of Media Analysis, Media Research Center; Caroline Downey, National Review Online; Ursula Murua, EWTN News; Tim Carney, senior political columnist, Washington Examiner; Andreas Thonhauser, Vatican bureau chief, EWTN News; Lauren Green, chief religion correspondent, Fox News; Teresa Tomeo, host of Catholic Connection, EWTN; and Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of National Review Online.