Columbia Experts Reflect on 2024 U.S. Presidential Election during “The Campaigns and Coverage”
Analyzing press narratives: evaluating coverage before, during and after the 2024 U.S. Presidential election.
One week after the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, the Columbia community gathered at Low Library for a discussion on the intersection of politics, media and statistics.
Co-sponsored by Columbia Journalism School (CJS) and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), “The Campaigns and the Coverage: Unpacking Politics, Media, and the Next Administration” addressed pressing questions raised by the election results.
“We must promote critical thinking. We must engage in dialogue on the most challenging ideas,” said Katrina Armstrong, Interim President of Columbia University, in her opening remarks. “And we must do that with respect, thought and empathy.”
This program was born out of a conversation between Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism, and SIPA’s Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo.
“We are very pleased to be collaborating with the Journalism School tonight, and I am grateful to Dean Jelani Cobb for his partnership in making this happen.”
Moderated by Sewell Chan, Executive Editor of Columbia Journalism Review, the panel featured Andrew Gelman, Higgins Professor of Statistics and Political Science; Errin Haines, editor-at-large at The 19th News; and Garrett Haake, Senior Congressional Correspondent at NBC News.
“We do have to continue to try to engage with people,” said Haines, who reported from both the 2019 and 2024 campaign trails. “There are 140 million that actually are interested in our process... What is it that we are prepared to give them, and are we prepared to meet them where they are?”
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Slide 1: Columbia's Interim President Katrina Armstrong gives opening remarks at the event in Low Library. Photo credit: Cole Giordano
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Slide 2: Moderator Sewell Chan of CJR in conversation with panelist Andrew Gelman. Photo credit: Cole Giordano
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Slide 3: The full panel of media experts. Photo credit: Cole Giordano
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Slide 4: CJS Dean Jelani Cobb gives his closing address at Low Library. Photo credit: Cole Giordano
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Slide 5: The panel listens to Dean Jelani Cobb's closing remarks. Photo credit: Cole Giordano
When asked how each panelist would respond to the challenge of improving transparency in interactions with the press, Haake emphasized that knowing who is behind the news is becoming increasingly important.
“Transparency is really key,” said Haake when discussing polling at NBC. “Authenticity from the people who are doing the news is important to the degree that knowing who I am can matter more…we are pivoting into a more transparent form of delivery.”
Interested in becoming a part of the Fourth Estate? Learn about the CJS2030 Democracy initiative.
Watch a full recording of the event.
Read more about “The Campaigns and the Coverage” in Columbia Spectator.