This is about two hours. Good evening and welcome to our program, and Perfect Union has america lost its moral center . My name is david gibson. I am the director of the department of religion and culture here at fordham university. We are pleased to see you here this evening and to have coverage by our friends at cspan at this event tonight. So look sharp. Try to behave. Cell phones on mute. But do feel free to tweet the event as you like. Maybe even our resident will between eating the event at some point president will be tweeting the event at some point although it seems hes more involved another matters. We began to conceive of this Program Shortly after mr. Trump was elected last november on the Famous Campaign slogan make America Great again. And of course, we were taking something of a risk by having this program, because we were betting in the course of one year he would not in fact have achieved his goal, an achievement that would have made this evenings discussion moot. We could have just center on anton asked amongst ourselves. And talked amongst ourselves. But it does seem the issue of National Greatness is still very much in play and in our case very much in doubt. Ugly nationalism, a service of hatred, rampant rampa\nt propaganda. They are all problems that if anything have gotten worse. Our operating thesis is shouldnt donald trump, he who shall not be named in some respects, is really more of a symptom than a cause of our crisis. But it does raise the question of what National Greatness means. What that value that is so important to our National Identity really means. It has been said america is great because america is good. Ronald reagan uses that line in a speech. Attributing it to tocqueville. One of the earlier examples of fake news, i guess. It was fairly instantly deployed. As we say its too good to check out so it has become the standard trope of stump speeches ever since. What does it mean for a nation to be good and have we all been good . Did we simply fall short of an ideal . And have we bailed on those ideals . Is there a path back, is it a path we even want to follow. These are the questions we wish to explore with our distinguished panel this evening. A former editor at the Chicago Tribune and a columnist for chicago catholic, the newspaper of his own archdiocese. Observer of the national scene. Don will introduce our panelists and guide us through the presentations and discussions that follow. A couple of housekeeping notes. On your chair as you will find two cards and one pencil. Its for writing down your questions. After don moderates a discussion we will collect your questions. I will sort through them by theme and hand them to don, who will pose your questions to our panelists. Please be sure to write or print legibly. There is also a second yellow card, asking how you heard about this event. You can check one of those boxes. As we seek to better serve you. Don thank you very much david. I hope everybody can hear me, i have a tendency to speak softly. I am honored to have moderated the distinguished panel. All of you have a brochure. Something about he or she begins to speak. With a personal reflection about the topic tonight. Back in the fall of 1965 i was a college at the university of notre dame. Wanting to study politics and political science. For two reasons the presidency of john f. Kennedy had inspired me, as had the Civil Rights Movement. Both are examples of how politics can make the world, the nation, better. I had a professor, the first thing he had us read is aristotles ethics. I think it was on the education of this. I found myself wondering what does this have to do with winning elections . Smiting bad guys . Making things better in the society. I began to understand. Every policy is the citizen. Ideally wellinformed, ethical, disciplined who participate fully in the life of the policy. Year, americans did something that has shaken the faith of a lot of people. Thats why we are asking this question. Has america lost its moral center . The evidence seems to be all around us. We have elected a president that seems to have respected none of the traditional norms. Maybe things need to be shaken up but calling into question the respect of the rule of law is and other basic principles is fairly radical. Right now we are waiting on the result of an election in alabama appears that a man who accused of pedophilia may win. Hes being supported by one of the major parties. We live ideologically segregated lives. And different Political Parties and opinions. The question of the health of our society and moral center is up in the air. With powerful and important thoughts on this issue. A featured columnist and has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the l. A. Times. Dissent, democracy, and other publications. She will tell you more about herself as she arises. Each of the panelists will speak initially for eight minutes. And then we will have some discussion and back and forth. I am glad to be here and part of this important conversation. Im going to talk about the problem of fake news. Its among the many things that we are all worried about. Almost a year into this administration. The truth needs to be at the top of this list. I mean just take today, this morning, with trump tweeting out those islamophobia committee of us. These are videos that came from a convicted rightwinger, somebody who is totally discredited as a hatemonger and when a white house spokeswoman in Sarah Huckabee sanders stands a up there, they ask about whether the videos are really authentic, she says it doesnt matter. It could well be fake and asked us to dismiss that. Doesnt matter if the videos are real. And you know, the idea that someone is speaking on behalf of the president , frankly this is not that surprising. We have a mission to celebrate and defend Free Expression. We viewed the spread of fraudulent news in terms of the many events of Free Expression in this era. In this, some people have argued, why is it an expression issue . Fake news is protected under the First Amendment. You can spread false is him as it rises to the level of deprivation in this country. We argue if you care about free speech its not just the First Amendment. We see ourselves as guardians. We think fraudulent news represent a real threat to that. First the scale of the problem. Himr and him himecent polling last year by gallu andp, in recent polling last year by gallup, only 32 of americans have even just a fair amount of trust in the media. That is down eight points from a year before and 20 Percentage Points from 1997 over the past 20 years. The Pew Research Center has done a study showing that 64 of americans felt fabricated new stories are in confusion about the basic facts of Current Issues and events. We see the press virtually than any other institution in our society. Even worse on the index of trust. False news is widespread and spreads uncontrollably. The pew center found one third of americans found fabricated political new stories online. There is also an assault, being mounted from the white house on the Mainstream Media with the aim of denigrating and discrediting the confusion about what is fake news. What we call fraudulent news, news that is not substantiated, that is not factual, that a spread with the aim of deception. Party much the exact opposite of what President Trump calls fake news. To him fake news is coverage he finds unfavorable. He labels it that way. The result has been a depolarization and Media Consumption where half the country is watching foxnews. Reading breitbart. The rest of us are tuning into cnn and nbc. Between this pattern of denigration continues relentlessly. We have documented over 100 examples of it. I think the case is going to be even higher. What are the applications for our society and democracy . Im going to run through a series of them in my limited time. It is understanding the breadth of this is that of this potential impact. First off, obviously is citizenry that doesnt have the facts and information and data they need to make sound decisions at the ballot box, to formulate views on policy. James madison said a popular government without popular information or a means of acquiring it is a prologue to a farce or a tragedy. I think we are willing to that farcical tragedy. The second is unending the second is unending Political Polarization and gridlock. If people expose information that only originate from politically aligned sources, they lose the ability to see issues for the opposing size or deal empathy. When policymakers are politically split, the result is paralysis. Decisions can be delayed and cause dysfunction. A third consequence of the rampant spread of fraudulent news is the undermining of legitimate news media for government accountability. To be an outlet for whistleblowers and others who misdeeds ande as a way of weeding out ineffective leadrs. I think that is a reason why the president has attacked the media. He is laying the groundwork for the time perhaps how he got its office in what hes doing in office and what the consequences will be laid bare. To be able to say it its all a bunch of falsehoods, on a pack of lies. Fourth up is the longterm risk to the viability of serious news. The traditional Business Model that supported them based on advertising and Television Advertising has come under enormous strain. Most people get the majority of their news through social Media Outlets that dont have the same level of support for the revenue for the newsrooms that generate that content. An erosion of trust and leadership. We see a boost in leadership and all rally around the Washington Post and the New York Times. That comes from the eastern seaboard, the urban centers. Its not coming from the heartland. We see an erosion of interest in the Mainstream Media and ultimately that will affect our bottom line. A fifth consequence relates to policymaking and the risk to evidencebased factdriven policymaking. Whether it be a economy, health care, education. They digest the analyses that are coming out in the academic centers. We depend on our news media to interpret, analyze, and what to credit. Im going to finish off with rattling off a couple of different issues. Manipulation of our discourse by private and foreign interest. Big Digital Media companies shaping our discourse. We depend upon the media to expose that. If the credibility is undermined, a cannot play that role. Distort facts from fiction, helping to guide us on how to react from a health scare, pandemic, the credibility has been eroded. Then they cannot perform that role. Handle emergencies. Hurricanes. Misinformation is rampant. Fema is telling people now how to address falsehoods that are spreading and how to find real news about the crises. The plague of cynicism. Of citizens cannot discern what to trust and what to distrust, the moral center of our society crocs open. Cracks open. Quoting someone who lived in russia in an authority in society authoritarian society, said that i do chronic power requires moral authority. The defeat of moral principles are as such. I think that is what we are facing her. Thank you. [applause] is a senior fellow at the ethics and policy center. He is currently a contributing writer for that New York Times. Thank you very much. Hank you for moderating thanks to my copanelists for being here. I was given the problems with our political system. Don said i had 10 minutes, i thought i had 10 days. Eight minutes, ok. You can go to two ways. You can either dilate on one or two points and some depth or cover a lot of ground quickly. I will go the letter route which will hopefully catalyze conversation during q a. My supposition is that the political system is on crisis. It is not in unprecedented crisis but it is serious. I think the Public Perception confirms that and sodas reality. Of the perception side, there was a poll done earlier this ofr at they universally maryland, Washington Post, starklyd that pessimistic view of politics is what the public has, widespread fear of the leaders and their ability to compromise. The numbers are pretty striking. Seven out of 10 said political divisions where the new norm. Seven out of 10 said the political divisions in this country are as great as they were during the vietnam war and the share of americans are not brought of the way our nations democracy is working has doubled in just the last three years. Public trust and government is near historic lows. Republicans and immigrants have for each other is growing. Can sense it. L it is in the air. Politics occupies a place in our minds and imaginations that are greater than it any time i can remember. Ofo think these perceptions the political system failing, the sort of dark mood the public has is not simply a problem of morel. It is a problem of reality. I could point out a lot of things. I will do a couple. Any nation that elect donald trump as president has a remarkably low view of politics. He ran for president with no experience, no obvious qualifications for the job and that manifests itself i think every day since he took office. What is interesting is that his supporters, and i talked to a lot of them because i am a lifelong republican and conservative, their arguments were that things cannot get worse so it was worth a roll of the dice and that he was really no worse than any other politicians. He won because he was viewed as an outsider in a nation that perceives politics is thoroughly broken. The second reason i think peoplesense the political system there is a lot of economic stress and anxiety and a sense of vulnerability the public has. It situation is not making better. We have had stagnant wages, skyrocketing health and tuition costs. A. Of economic disruption. To the degree that economy is growing, it has been asymmetrical growth. Most of the real wage growth has lastto the top 20 of the 10 years. It were past 20 years, the temper laid not benefited a and that is exacerbating income inequality. Unnerved, deeply worried about the longterm trajectory of the economy in the country and they believe the governing classes let them down. Hence they were willing to gamble the presidency on a World Wrestling hall of famer with no experience. We are living with the consequences of that. I think peoplesense politics has become an arena for conflict rather than a place for problem solving. It has become kind of a forum for invective. Jonathan heights and sam abrams, two professors cite several destructive longterm trends that explain why our National Politics are broken. I will mention a few of them, as the political scientist referred them to. To appear for themselves ideologically over the years. Not just ideologically, in terms of personality and lifestyle. The urbanrural divide has grown into a golf which reflects and values. Terests immigration is rising and that is leading to larger rasul and ethnic divisions. Divisions. Nd ethnic cultural changes in Congress Make it harder to maintain cross party friendships. Its much easier for partisans to confirm their suspicions and put pressure on politicians than to play to the extremes. To complicate all of that, politics has entered what could period. D a posttruth wants toump not only attack the truth, he wants to annihilate it. There has been a debate on College Campuses for about one year. Constructionm and is. Weve never seen an assault on the truth like we are seeing it now and i think theres a huge cost to that. It is disorienting. We see acute political tribalism. As my team right or wrong . Weve seen the demoralization of key verges. On the right there has been an extraordinary valuation of ideas that has occurred over my lifetime. I think there is a blossoming sense of National Identity. People are defined by race and ethnicity. You get the sense youre heading toward a collision of sorts, making its way to fracturing disagreements, to contempt and anger and rage. It does not seem at this moment that there are a lot of breaks there that can be applied. So there this kind of downward cycle of we combination. Hasthe bond of affection been frayed and severed, to use the words of lincoln. What do we do about it . I will drive them out of the we can beat them up during the discussion. First, keep perspective. Dont romanticize the past. We are the civil war, jefferson, make some1800 which of the elections we have had look like a walk in the park. The second thing is, i think we have to find a way to attain what i would call inclusive as 30. That is, prosperity which will begin to drain some of the anger and frustration and fear that people are. Greater social mobility and inclusion. I think we need people in politics to make the case for politics which they dont do anymore. What it is, what it is not, why it is as such a. Theers need to argue for dignity and this is the of politics. It is interesting how don was speaking about his history which tracks in part with mine and what i thought about politics and why i got in. To argue what it is, give, take on compromise. Those things are necessary and appropriate. There are also limits. I think politics has become a replacement for community and meaning and a sense of belonging for a lot of people and i think that explains in part the tribalism we are seeing. I think we have to recover the deep purposes of dialogue and debate and it is not to win, but it is to move a little bit closer to the truth and reality of things. I think we have to listen to each other. We should listen not just to hear, not just to respond but to hear and to spend time with people t