Our civic engagement partners Chester Made and Greater Carlisle Heart & Soul addressed these questions and more in 2018-2019, telling A Tale of Two Cities through a series of programs and activities as part of the national Democracy and the Informed Citizen initiative.
For an overview of the series, read the Generocity feature article "PA Humanities Council helps communities reclaim their stories."
Bill Marimow, Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist
Policing The Truth was a multi-faceted presentation and panel discussion that examined how editors, every-day people, and media managers filter and forward information to the public.
The event took place Thursday, April 25, 2019 from 6-8PM at the MJ Freed Theater, 515 Avenue of the States, Chester, PA 19013.
Policing The Truth explored the issues of the day and evaluated how consumers are influenced by seemingly infinite and often incongruent information. Policing The Truth put media, corporations and communities under a critical microscope of consideration and analyzed how power creates content, how power curates content and how power corrupts content.
Addressing the idea of policing the truth was a panel of highly respected media representatives and social advocates, including Zulene Mayfield, Sara Lomax Reese, Eric 'Brother Shomari' Grimes, and Superintendent of Police at Upper Darby Police Dept. Mike Chitwood. Each panelist elaborated on what policing the truth means for them in their line of work. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bill Marimow, our guest speaker, opened the program with a 10-minute talk about what policing the truth has meant in his career. Seasoned journalist and reconciliation expert Ulysses Slaughter, project manager for the Chester Made project, moderated both the panel discussion and a 20-minute question and answer session.
This program was hosted by Chester Made, MJ Freed Theater, and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.