Local journalists and news executives from across the Grand Traverse region will participate in a free public roundtable in the McGuire Community Room at the Traverse Area District Library Woodmere branch on Saturday, October 26 from 4pm to 6pm. The event, called “How News Happens: A Roundtable with Local Journalists on Election Coverage, Fact-Checking, and Savvy News Consuming,” aims to help residents better understand how newsrooms work and learn tips for identifying accurate news versus misinformation or conspiracy theories – especially during elections.

Panelists at the nonpartisan event will discuss the challenges of covering news in the current election cycle, explain the behind-the-scenes process of how their newsrooms work and how stories are fact-checked, and share tips for the public on discerning accurate from inaccurate information. First Amendment rights – including how they impact campaigns and elections – will also be covered, with an audience Q&A concluding the event. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how local news coverage works and how they can become savvier media consumers.

Panelists at the roundtable will include Traverse City Ticker Head Writer Beth Milligan, Traverse City Record-Eagle Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Pierce, Interlochen Public Radio News Director Ed Ronco, 7&4 News/UpNorthLive News Director Pat Livingston, 9&10 News Director Dan Firnbach, and Emmy Parsons, First Amendment rights attorney at Ballard Spahr in Washington D.C. The event is organized by Megan Giles Cooney, columnist for the Traverse City Record-Eagle and CNHI Newspapers, and author and journalist Doug Stanton. Megan Giles Cooney, who will moderate the discussion, is the daughter of the late Robert Giles, a Pulitzer Prize-winning news editor, publisher of The Detroit News, and author of When Truth Mattered: The Kent State Shootings 50 Years Later. The event will be recorded and available after the fact on YouTube.