Author of New York Times Best Seller
Luncheon February 1

Toff leads the Trust in News Project at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Karem, is the award-winning journalist and author of “Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It.”

Bevan is the co-founder and president of Real Clear Politics (RCP) and to many the go-to source for accurate and reliable polling data on election campaigns throughout the U.S.

Atkin is co-founder at Check My Ads, the adtech industry’s first watchdog leading the effort to halt the spread of disinformation.

Potter, who holds a PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in media research, is a veteran journalist who has worked both domestically and internationally.

Gingras, the VP of News, helps guide Google’s strategy for surfacing news content across Google products and working with the news industry.

Axelrod, who served as chief strategist to President Barack Obama and then, following his time in the White House, headed the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, has been outspoken about his concern for democracy given the public’s view of the media ecosystem.

Myers, a former White House press secretary and global chief communications and public affairs officer for Warner Bros., will discuss the relationship between the media and businesses, consumers and government leaders in the age of misinformation.

“Why would you say that (to the press),” (Trump) demanded, his voice rising. “Because it is true, Mr. President,” I replied.

Snap Judgements: How Audiences Who Lack Trust in News Navigate Information on Digital Platforms

Blending his experiences as a veteran reporter with analysis of the erosion of trust between the press and the government during the past 40 years, in Free the Press, renowned journalist Brian J. Karem gives readers a unique perspective on the challenges facing journalism while asking the question, ``How did we get here?`` And perhaps more importantly, ``How do we fix it?``.

“Polls can be misleading,” Bevan says. “In 2020, just a week before election day, an ABC News poll in Wisconsin had Biden ahead by a preposterous 17 points in the state. When the votes were counted, Biden won by 1 percent. These are the kinds of outcomes that lead to skepticism and distrust of pollsters and sometimes the media that convey results.”

Check My Ads Institute is an independent watchdog reshaping the digital adtech industry from within its ranks — and building a new sustainable standard in digital advertising. Check My Ads is holding the surveillance adtech industry accountable for abuses against advertisers and consumers, and spearheading the development of a transparent, efficient and privacy-focused digital advertising marketplace.

The JTI is an effort by Reporter Without Borders to certify professional newsroom values so that results vault to the top of online searches.

At Google, Gingras oversees efforts to enable a healthy, open ecosystem for quality journalism, including the Google News Initiative, which was launched in 2018 to help centralize and scale the company’s efforts to help build a stronger future for news.

“Disinformation and conspiracy theories, turbocharged and micro-targeted by the new tools social media and big data provide, are a clear and present danger to democracies,” Axelrod remarked at a symposium on the topic earlier this year. “They have become weapons with which to foment mistrust in our institutions, sow division and even political violence. But combating them is a complex challenge.”

As director of GO-Biz, Myers oversees California’s job growth, economic development and business assistance efforts. GO-Biz teams are made up of experts that span industries, geographies and business backgrounds.