Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication presents
THE BEAUTY OF TRUTH: THE AESTHETIC AND MORAL SATISFACTION IN TRUTH TELLING
Defining the word “truth” can be simple on the surface, but it opens up deep philosophical territory. Naturally, its definition shifts depending on context — whether scientific, philosophical, cultural, or personal. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel write in The Elements of Journalism that “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.” The designer Victor Papanek writes of the “elegant solution” as “something that reduces the complex to the simple.” Yet truth is often elusive, difficult to grasp, hard to contend with, and thus it is often simpler, faster, more convenient to accept and promote alternative versions of reality. As media makers, scholars, and storytellers, we are often driven by a desire to discover what is real -- what is true -- under the surface of things, from politics to human behavior. The beauty of truth lies in its vulnerability to newly available information, yet openness to ongoing iterations of knowledge.
In this session, a panel of faculty from the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication will reflect on their chosen career paths in journalism, strategic communication, filmmaking, and media studies, and explain how the pursuit of truth has played an essential role in their creative and scholarly output. They’ll emphasize why it is especially important today given the current crisis in the country’s political culture.
Panelists:
• Scott Brinton, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Dept. of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
• Russell Harbaugh, Associate Professor, Film Studies and Production, Dept. of Radio, Television, Film
• Victoria Semple, Associate Professor of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Dept. of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
• Jingsi Christina Wu, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Dept. of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
Moderator: Mario A. Murillo, Professor, Vice Dean, The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication
The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication presents
THE BEAUTY OF TRUTH: THE AESTHETIC AND MORAL SATISFACTION IN TRUTH TELLING
Defining the word “truth” can be simple on the surface, but it opens up deep philosophical territory. Naturally, its definition shifts depending on context — whether scientific, philosophical, cultural, or personal. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel write in The Elements of Journalism that “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.” The designer Victor Papanek writes of the “elegant solution” as “something that reduces the complex to the simple.” Yet truth is often elusive, difficult to grasp, hard to contend with, and thus it is often simpler, faster, more convenient to accept and promote alternative versions of reality. As media makers, scholars, and storytellers, we are often driven by a desire to discover what is real -- what is true -- under the surface of things, from politics to human behavior. The beauty of truth lies in its vulnerability to newly available information, yet openness to ongoing iterations of knowledge.
In this session, a panel of faculty from the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication will reflect on their chosen career paths in journalism, strategic communication, filmmaking, and media studies, and explain how the pursuit of truth has played an essential role in their creative and scholarly output. They’ll emphasize why it is especially important today given the current crisis in the country’s political culture.
Panelists:
• Scott Brinton, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Dept. of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
• Russell Harbaugh, Associate Professor, Film Studies and Production, Dept. of Radio, Television, Film
• Victoria Semple, Associate Professor of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Dept. of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
• Jingsi Christina Wu, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Dept. of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
Moderator: Mario A. Murillo, Professor, Vice Dean, The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication
