Sunday, February 9, 2020, 2pm
No Neutral Ground: Media and Belief Formulation
Presenters: Shelley Walcott, Eric Ratinoff, Howard Altschiller
Location: Portsmouth Public Library, Levenson Room
The media – television, the press, radio and the internet – plays an important role in shaping public opinion and reinforcing a society’s beliefs. In informing the public about what happens in the world, the media can shape public debate and focus public interest on particular agendas and thus can influence individual actions and implicit associations.
For this panel, presenters will explore how media coverage operates to help form individual beliefs and attitudes around race. They will also explore the potential for media to influence positive social change.
Biographies
Shelley Walcott is an award-winning journalist and former co-anchor of both News 9 Tonight at 11 p.m. on WMUR, and News 9 at 10 p.m. on MeTV New Hampshire. Her work has seen her presented with several awards: The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television presented Shelley with a Gracie Award, in the category of Children’s/Adolescent TV, for a three-part medical series she produced for the CNN on “The Teenage Brain.” The Milwaukee Press Club honored Shelley in the category of “Best Live Reporting.” Also, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association recognized Shelley with a Merit Award for “Best Feature Story. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Political Science from Concordia University in Montreal. She also holds a Diplôme Études Collégial in Social Sciences from Montreal’s Vanier College.
Eric Ratinoff is the founder and Chief Storyteller of Story First, a strategic storytelling firm that helps companies and organizations get clear about their story and tell it more effectively. He is also the co-founder of The Mouse and the Elephant, a diversity and inclusion consulting firm; served as Executive Editor for the Ferguson Commission report; and co-authored “A Seat at the Table,” an award-winning column on diversity and inclusion for the New Hampshire Business Review.
An organizer and speaker coach for TEDxAmoskeagMillyard, Eric also spoke at TEDxCapeMay in New Jersey, with a talk entitled, “Once Upon a Time At The Office: How Stories Shape Culture At Work.” Eric earned his Bachelor of Arts in English at Washington University in St. Louis.
Howard Altschiller is the Executive Editor and General Manager of Seacoast Media Group, publishers of Seacoastonline, Fosters.com, Portsmouth Herald, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Hampton Union, Exeter News-Letter, York Weekly and York County Coast Star. During a 30 year career, he has won numerous reporting awards and is a two-time winner of Editorial Writer of the Year from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Altschiller is president of New Hampshire Press Association, co-chair of New Hampshire Committee on the Judiciary and the Media and named one of New Hampshire’s 200 Most Influential Business Leaders by New Hampshire Business Review in December 2019.
