US Polarization, Violence and Social Media, Authenticity in Politics

US Polarization Dr. Michael Beam, received a PHD in communications from The Ohio State University. He is an Assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University. His research looks at impact of information systems using personalized algorithms on news exposure and health communication, the influence of partisan media sources on political polarization and political information processing, and how new media systems change information distribution patterns. Has worked in community radio for over a dozen years and produces a weekly radio show, The Beat Oracle. Dr. Beam and Dr. Townsend talk about the polarization of news and information in our country. Violence and Social Media Dr. Helen Farrell is a Board certified Psychiatrist & Forensic Psychiatrist. She is a Harvard Medical School Instructor in psychiatry and a staff psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Farrell describes this conflict saying, “Social media and live streaming can be excellent tools for quick dissemination of news, marketing, and entertainment - but there is more. Such platforms also provide an outlet for exhibitionism and this can lead to disastrous consequences.” She’s joining us today to teach us more about the affects social media has played in our understating of violence. Authenticity in Politics Dr. Seth Masket is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Denver. Author of No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures. Worked as a senior writer in the White House Office of Correspondence and as a direct mail consultant on several political campaigns in the mid-1990s. Dr. Masket joins Dr. Townsend to discuss authenticity in politics and how much we really want to know about our politicians.