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NPR TV critic Eric Deggans to speak in Lexington

Washington & Lee University

When NPR’s first full time TV critic, Eric Deggans, published a book in 2012 looking at how media uses coded messages to stir prejudice, the concept of “fake news” was still just a gleam in then reality TV star Donald Trump’s eye.

Deggans gave a talk about this at University of Florida last year. "I had a lot of assumptions when I put that book together," Deggans told the group. " And the first one was, you can reduce racism by exposing people to the racism. I also thought journalists could help with this transition. We could help root out facts and people would believe us. That was my biggest mistake."

Deggans is giving a version of the same talk Tuesday night at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. It’s called, “Building Bridges, Not Walls: Decoding Media’s Confusing Coverage of Race and Culture.” It looks at media’s role in segmenting society.  

The talk at W&L's Stackhouse Theatre is free and open to the public.

Click here for more information.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.