What are the roots of our “epistemic crisis” regarding what counts as facts and as “reality?” Participants focused on actors who benefit from the questioning of truth claims, how institutions that once served as gatekeepers for such claims have been weakened and are now unable to adjust to new media ecosystems, and how new maladapted gatekeeping institutions have taken their place.

Participants included:

Steven Livingston, Professor of Media and Public Affairs & Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University

Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor of Communication Studies, American University

Yochai Benkler, Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, Harvard University

Benjamin Epstein, Associate Professor of Political Science, DePaul College

David Karpf, Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University

Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy, Duke University

Mark Major, Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, Pennsylvania State University

Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University

Victor Pickard, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Paul Starr, Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs & Professor of Sociology, Princeton University