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Join TSPR for a weekly conversation about media issues. News Director Rich Egger and expert panelists discuss what’s in the news about the news business.

Reporting on UFOs

Poynterrecently noted that UFOs have landed in mainstream media coverage. NPR and other outlets reported on a preliminary assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies looking into unidentified aerial phenomena. And Poynter noted that the New York Times ran a story a few years ago about what was described as a shadowy Pentagon program that investigated reports of UFOs. 

The article in Poynter raised several questions, including: How can and should the press cover this subject responsibly, and what role has the media played in shaping how the public perceives these sightings?

Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues.  This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier, the students at student radio station The Dog, and the WIU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; Rajvee Subramanian, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.