Author, NYT writer Elizabeth Williamson to share tips for reporting amid lies and disinformation, June 10
Journalists have long been charged with sorting fact from fiction through their reporting. But what happens when readers redefine what they see as truth and what they’ll accept as fact?
New York Times writer and author Elizabeth Williamson is among journalists confronting the rampant rise and spread of conspiracy theories through her reporting and research. Her current work has focused on unraveling the targeted misinformation and lies spread after the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the surviving families’ lawsuits against Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and the election disinformation fueling the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
She'll lead the online discussion of "Facts in a Time of Fiction: Reporting the truth amid lies and disinformation," on Friday, June 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT. The free instructional webinar is produced by the National Press Club Journalism Institute. Registration is open.
Williamson will share her reporting and research process, along with insights she gained as she connected the dots on how conspiracy theories grow. Williamson, whose critically acclaimed book “Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth” was published this spring by Dutton, will describe how she threaded together more than 400 interviews, 10,000 pages of court testimony and other records, and on-the-ground reporting to trace a line from conspiracy theories around Sandy Hook to Jan. 6, 2021.
Participants will learn to:
- Identify how misinformation and political conspiracy theories have spread
- Work with sensitivity and clarity while reporting on conspiracy theories
- Pre-bunk conspiracy theories through early reporting
- Use trauma-informed reporting methods while working with people suffering tragedy
- Organize reporting and deep research to craft a long-form narrative.
About Elizabeth Williamson
Elizabeth Williamson is a feature writer in the New York Times Washington bureau and a former member of the New York Times editorial board. She has worked at The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and spent a decade as a foreign correspondent in Eastern Europe. Before joining the NYT in 2015, Williamson was a reporter in The Wall Street Journal’s Washington bureau. She wrote features about national politics and the culture of Washington and covered the White House during President Barack Obama’s first term.
Before joining the WSJ in 2008, Williamson worked for the Washington Post from 2003. She has covered the federal government and Congress, lobbying, federal government contracting, and the reverberations of Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq.
Williamson began her journalism career as a foreign correspondent in 1994, and for a decade reported from the Balkans, Russia, the Baltic nations and broader Eastern Europe. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune and other outlets. In 2000, she became the WSJ’s Warsaw bureau chief, covering Poland and surrounding countries.
Williamson was born in Chicago and resides in Washington with her family.
About the Institute
The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.
Please direct questions about this program to Beth Francesco, the Institute’s deputy executive director.
Next program from NPCJI is Friday, June 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT: "Faith in Journalism: How news organizations can build trust with religious Americans." Registration is open.