By: Journalist Heba Saleh (TU)
A member of the media spoke with O.I.L. delegates today during Opening Joint Session.
The editor-in-chief of The Oklahoman addressed the body regarding all things news.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives, Senate, Supreme Court and members of the Executive Branch joined together to begin session while members of the Press Corps documented it all.
As traditionally happens during Opening Joint Session, the body welcomed a guest speaker. This time around, it was the editor-in-chief of The Oklahoman, Ray Rivera, who was meant to be the guest speaker during the previous session but was ultimately unable to do so. Rivera also worked for The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Unlike previous O.I.L. guest speakers who are generally involved in politics and non-profit work. Rivera spoke on the current state of the media rather than his role as the editor-in-chief of The Oklahoman. He, further, stayed away from speaking about his journey to reach his position, unlike previous guest speakers.
Instead, Rivera spoke about the current state of the media and interacted with delegates, asking them questions regarding where they fall on the political spectrum, where they receive their news and how much they rely on social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, as a source of news.
He then went on to discuss the difference between the opinion and news portions of a publication in response to the body’s belief that publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Fox News are partisan. According to him, while the “talking heads” of these new sources may be heavily partisan, the news sections of these sources are unbiased, non-partisan sources. In fact, he stated that he relied on or appreciated the reporting of Fox News, which is now considered by many to be heavily partisan.
He later cautioned against throwing around claims of “fake news,” which serves to undermine reliable sources, then fielded question from the audience ranging from tips for members of the press to set themselves apart early on to the more general question of the role of media in politics.