9-11 and the media: A Public forum at Fairfield University April 25 | Press Releases

Fairfield University will explore the topic "Beyond Retaliation: Media Propaganda, Terrorism, and the Public Interest since 9-11" at a public forum on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m. in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library on campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dr. B. Lee Artz, an expert on media and propaganda as they relate to the events of September 11, will be the featured speaker at the forum. Artz is an associate professor of communication at Loyola University of Chicago and a visiting professor in international communication at Purdue University Calumet.

According to Robbin Crabtree, associate professor and chair of communication at Fairfield University, "Since September 11, 2001, the Fairfield University community has been discussing the events, aftermath and meaning of one of the most significant and alarming occurrences in U.S. history. While the university community has gathered to mourn, pray and reflect on the events of 9-11, we have not had a university-wide gathering where we take our questions, concerns, and insights to the analytical level."

In addition to his public lecture, which will take place in the Multimedia Room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library, Artz will visit two classes at Fairfield ("Ethics of Communication in a Time of Terror," a course retooled in the aftermath of 9-11, and Media & Society") and he will participate with Fairfield University faculty members and students in a roundtable discussion of the 9-11 events and the media coverage of those events.

Artz has lectured around the country on the subject of media coverage of the events and aftermath of 9-11. He has written extensively about the mass media in the United States and other nations from approaches as varied as rhetorical analysis, political economy, historical analysis, and cultural studies.

"These approaches reflect the wide variety of interests of the faculty and students at Fairfield University and Dr. Artz's visit gives us an opportunity to gather, learn, discuss, and analyze," said Crabtree. "In order for us to make sense of what happened on 9-11, and to guide our government to right and just action in response to the events of 9-11, we need to go beyond sympathy for victims and anger at perpetrators; we must begin to examine the contexts of these events, question the range of possible responses, scrutinize the retaliatory efforts of the international community, and imagine diplomatic and strategic alternatives for a new era of global relations.

"The role of the mass media in constraining our range of perceptions, shaping our views, and representing nations, peoples, and ideas must be central to this discussion," she said.

Artz teaches in a wide variety of areas in communication studies including international mass communication, media and politics, and rhetoric of social justice and social change. He is widely published on these topics, and has edited or co-edited five books on the media, globalization, the public interest, and democratic society.

His research has examined the role of Disney in the globalization of capitalism, racism in "buddy movies," Nicaraguan communication policy, and media coverage of the Gulf War.

Artz's visit to campus is sponsored by Fairfield University's Humanities Institute and Department of Communication. Co-sponsors include Fairfield University's International Studies Program, Peace & Justice Studies, Legal Studies, and Department of Politics.