In a time where we are inundated with media, it's difficult to tell which side is up, and more importantly during an extremely polarizing election year we need to ensure we are doing our best to decipher that our sources of information can be trusted. Paul Brandus has been a member of the White House press corps and White House Correspondents Association since 2008. He is a columnist for Dow Jones/MarketWatch, and Washington bureau chief for Evergreen Podcasts. He is a successful author, podcast host, and has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, PBS, CSPAN, the British Broadcasting Corp., Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and others, hosted a Voice of America global affairs program for three years and is a weekly contributor to Washington’s all-news WTOP Radio. Previously, Brandus spent five years based in Moscow, including working as a U.S. Embassy staffer and then foreign correspondent, primarily for NBC Radio and the award-winning public radio business/finance program “MarketPlace.” In addition to criss-crossing Russia for many years, he has reported from China, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and other locales. With his incredibly impressive background Paul joined us to discuss the importance of media literacy and how to responsibly consume the news and navigate it's complexities.

Join us for this next episode of our series with The Literacy Cooperative, Donate to this amazing organization here.

Key Takeaways

[00:00:45] Election Season Overwhelm

[00:01:51] Importance of Media Literacy

[00:02:58] Misinformation vs. Disinformation

[00:10:05] The Challenge of Fact-Checking

[00:14:29] Confirmation Bias in Media Consumption

[00:17:06] Setting Boundaries Around News Consumption

[00:24:00] Politicians and Censorship Claims

[00:26:09] Internet's Impact on News Consumption

[00:33:24] Importance of Voting

This serves as a reminder that voting is not just a civic duty, but a privilege that should be cherished and exercised!

Where to Find Paul

Website – PaulBrandus.com
Instagram – @PaulBrandus
Email – pbrandus@gmail.com

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E85: Responsible News Consumption & Media Literacy