Posted by Christian Noll on Oct 10, 2017
Thomas Kent, President of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty,  joined us at one of our club meetings where he explored how news is assimilated, edited, influenced, distributed and digested.
Tom joined Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on June 27, 2016 after a career of more than 40 years at The Associated Press. Most recently, he was AP’s standards editor, responsible for the fairness and accuracy of the news agency’s content in text, photos, video, audio, interactives, and on social networks. Tom outlined how news gathering has changed and how forces with vested interests exert influence on audiences through many and varied channels. 'Even a picture is not always what it may be reported to be', said Tom, as he showed examples of images which have been used to support unfounded stories. He explained the construct and mission of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and in particular that both organisations set out to cover local news in countries where state media bias is rife. Tom's presentation was revealing and truly thought provoking - knowing which source to trust and how to cross check information is a skill which is ever more important in the information age where news is disseminated through many channels within seconds of the event happening anywhere in the world.
Helen Noll, RCPI President, thanked Tom Kent for his truly insightful presentation to the club.
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