You're Invited | Policy and a Pint: Uncivil Discourse - Comments Sections in the Digital Age

The Citizens League and The Current are partnering up to discuss the uncivil discourse we're regularly seeing in comments sections and online forums. Join a dynamic and diverse panel as they explore the implications of free speech and uncensored conversation in the digital age. Come out from behind-the-screens for the next Policy and a Pint!

Policy and a Pint: Uncivil Discourse - Comments Sections in the Digital Age

Monday, Aug. 12 Doors 5:30pm | Program 6-7:30 pm Varsity Theater 1308 4th Street SE, Minneapolis Admission: $10, $5 for students with valid ID Appetizers from the Loring Pasta Bar are included.

If you're a reader of comments sections on websites, you know they can be places where all kinds of speech flies freely: balanced comments, nasty comments, and, some would say, irresponsible comments.

We tout the web as the great democratizer, but are comments sections curated op-ed spaces or a totally open free-for-all? Some call comments sections the new public square, but others say that the act of "trolling" actually stifles the ability for healthy public discourse. And how do the comments sections reflect - poorly or positively - on the mission or brand of the company? It's a question that has implications for free speech, and we'll tackle it at our next Policy and a Pint.

Host Steve Seel welcomes MPR News' Newscut blogger Bob Collins, U of M journalism professor Shayla Thiel-Stern, Julio Ojeda-Zapata from the Pioneer Press, and City Pages' Aaron Rupar to the panel. You make it a vibrant conversation.

Policy and a Pint® is presented by Citizens League and 89.3 The Current

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