Port Washington’s Temple Beth Israel welcomes Scholar-in-Residence Howard Schneider with a series of events on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9.
Schneider, the executive director of Stony Brook’s Center for News Literacy and a former Newsday editor as well as former founding dean of the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University, will discuss his life and career as a journalist. He will be covering important themes about truth versus fake news, the state of news journalism, his experiences in media, and the connections of Judaism and modern journalism. Each of the events are open to TBI congregants and the general public.
On Friday, March 8, following TBI’s Friday Night Live Shabbat service, Schneider will lead the first of three events focused on his career in journalism, exploring how the press makes decisions on what is considered newsworthy, including a question and answer session on everything from the recent and acclaimed documentary “Three Identical Strangers” to coverage of the recent Presidential election. The Friday Night Live service begins at 6:30 p.m. and Schneider’s talk will take place at 8 pm.
Schneider will lead two sessions on Saturday, March 8 where he will be further exploring his life and career, where news and Judaism meet, and today’s 24/7 news cycle culture.
At 11 a.m., he will lead a Dear Torah talk titled “What is Truth? Journalism and Judaism,” delving into what we can learn from Torah passages, especially about truth from the Book of Exodus.
Following this, at 12:30 p.m., he will conclude his residency with “How to Become a Smarter News Consumer.” This final session will examine the non-stop news cycle and how the internet has spawned a tsunami of news and information, some of which masquerades as legitimate journalism, and how we as consumers of information can tell the difference.
The Shabbat dinner on Friday, March 8 at 8 pm is $20 for both TBI members and non-members. The Saturday, March 9 event at 11 a.m. is free, and the 12:30 p.m. Shabbat lunch is free for TBI members, and $20 for non-members. Please RSVP with TBI in advance.
Howard Schneider has worked as a journalist or journalism educator for 50 years. During his 18 years as managing editor and then editor of Newsday, the paper won eight Pulitzer Prizes, and he served on Pulitzer judging panels three times.
At Stony Brook, he helped develop the nation’s first undergraduate course in news literacy, which is designed to teach students how to become more discerning news consumers. The course subsequently spread to dozens of other universities across the country and overseas, and to several area high schools.
At the university, he also collaborated with the actor, writer and science advocate Alan Alda to launch what is now the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. In 2003, Schneider was the recipient of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism’s Alumnus Award (M.S. ’67). He is currently the Executive Director of Stony Brook’s Center for News Literacy and appeared in the recent documentary “Three Identical Strangers.”
For more information about Temple Beth Israel and its social action and public events, please visit tbiport.org or call 516-767-1708.
