Q&A with 2022 Ottaway Professor Barton Gellman sparks rousing dialogue about the present and future of U.S. media
On Feb. 7, members of the SUNY New Paltz community had the opportunity to meet Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Barton Gellman, the 2022 James H. Ottaway Sr. Visiting Professor of Journalism, at a Q & A hosted by President Donald P. Christian.
Gellman shared experiences from his 30+ year career writing about national security and U.S. democracy at a hybrid event with students, staff and faculty. President Christian set the stage for discussion with introductory questions, and audience members (both in-person and virtual) were able to ask some of their own.
Much of the conversation centered on the present state of journalism, and how members of the media can navigate a world where audiences on both sides of the political aisle disagree on basic questions of fact. Gellman’s recent reporting on the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and related threats to democracy provided important context for these discussions.
“There’s a bit of critique of journalism for treating all sides of the story as equally valid, or equally likely to be true,” he said, “but there are some types of stories where that’s just not the right way to cover it. We’re allowed to say that something is true and something is false.”
Gellman elaborated on this point in response to a student’s question about declining trust in the media among individuals on both the political left and right.
“I think that these [news] organizations make mistakes, and sometimes they’re not skeptical enough,” he said, “but I’m not very sympathetic to the idea that corporate media are sort of captured by established institutions and unwilling to challenge them. That’s just not my experience.”
Ultimately, Gellman expressed optimism about journalists’ ability to adapt to the evolving challenges of the industry and embrace new tools that allow them to report effectively in new ways that reach new audiences.
“I try to be eager and to welcome these changes,” he said. “I welcome the phenomenon that allows anybody with a computer to publish for the world to see. There are some pathologies that go with it because you have people who are deliberately trying to create disinformation, ads, and spread falsehoods. [However], it’s much harder to get away with an error in a news story today than it was when I started my career, because everybody can be a publisher.”
As Ottaway Visiting Professor, Gellman is sharing his insights and experiences with students in “The Literature of Fact,” an upper-level seminar for digital media and journalism majors. The course focuses on creative non-fiction writing in the style of a narrative magazine feature.
Members of our community will have another opportunity to hear from him later this semester at a public address on Tuesday, April 26, titled “Secrets, Leaks and the National Security State.” More information about that event will be shared as it approaches.
About the James H. Ottaway Sr. Visiting Professorship
The James H. Ottaway Sr. Visiting Professorship, SUNY New Paltz’s only endowed professorship, is named for the founder of Ottaway Newspapers Inc., who was a leader of the American Press Institute and a lifelong supporter of high quality journalism in the Hudson Valley and across the globe.
The Ottaway Visiting Professorship was established in 2000 through the generosity of James H. Ottaway Jr. ’18 HON and Mary Ottaway ’70g (Elementary Education).
Numerous well-known journalists have preceded Gellman as Ottaway professors, including Pulitzer Prize winners, foreign correspondents, book authors, editors, investigative reporters and experts in finance, science and consumer journalism.
More information about the Ottaway Visiting Professorship, including biographies of previous professors, can be found at https://www.newpaltz.edu/ottaway/.