Charles Bierbauer: "What Were the Founding Fathers Thinking?"

I was fortunate enough to appear on a panel last night, November 7, 2016, at the University of South Carolina Aiken. The featured speaker was Charles Bierbauer, Dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina Columbia. Bierbauer was formerly a senior correspondent for CNN. David Dillard-Wright moderated.

Bierbauer's message emphasized that our political system is durable. He discussed the press' role in keeping the public fully informed about important issues and events. Showing us his ever-ready pocket Constitution, he explained its role in determining our governance. He also emphasized that we all need to get our news from multiple sources. Good advice, in all.

The role of the other panelists, myself included, was to bring up additional questions about the campaign and political communication. For my part, I asked what could be done to restore the press' credibility, when so many honest reporters are accused of bias when their only sin is to report something that people would rather not know. We who specialize in communication need to work on that issue, don't we! This was an important program; many community leaders attended.

L-R: Bob Botsch, Brandy Horne, Charles Bierbauer, Matt Thornburg, William Harpine
USC Aiken Photo