BigTentUSA hosted legendary journalist Judy Woodruff and founder/publisher of Courier News, Tara McGowan. The conversation was moderated by Gen Z journalist Rachel Janfaza.
At a time of historic distrust in the media and rising misinformation, how do we keep the public informed—and believing the facts? Together, they explored the challenges facing both legacy and emerging outlets, the growing cynicism among audiences, and the urgent need to rebuild trust in journalism as a cornerstone of democracy.
This discussion highlighted how data driven Courier is in meeting the moment with social-first, fact-based reporting designed to reach Americans who’ve been left behind by traditional media. Our speakers also examined how legacy voices like Woodruff’s continue to guide the public through complicated, high-stakes times with clarity and integrity.
This is more than a conversation about the media—it’s about defending truth and preserving democracy.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
JUDY WOODRUFF is the Senior Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour after serving for 11 years as its Anchor and Managing Editor. She has covered politics and other news for over four decades at CNN, NBC, and PBS. In 2023 and 2024, she undertook a reporting project, America at a Crossroads, to better understand the country’s political divide.
Woodruff is the recent recipient of an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the Radcliffe Medal, the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University. She is the recipient of more than 25 honorary degrees.
TARA MCGOWAN is the founder and Publisher of Courier Newsroom and CEO of Good Information Inc, a civic incubator that invests in immediate solutions to counter disinformation online. Recognizing the need for new media infrastructure that deliberately reaches and informs the consumers across the country who are most susceptible to being targeted with disinformation online, she founded in Courier in 2019.
Courier is a network of state and local newsrooms that deliver factual, cultural, and relevant news through a pro-democracy lens to communities who have been left behind by traditional media, directly to their social newsfeeds and inboxes.
RACHEL JANFAZA is the founder of The Up and Up – a newsletter about young voters – and and a consultant on youth civic engagement and media strategy. A member of Generation Z myself, she is lazier-focused on the cohort’s civic attitude and has convened listening sessions with hundreds of young people across the country. Her written work has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, The Free Press, Glamour, POLITICO Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vogue, Elle, Cosmo, and Bustle. And my on-air analysis has been featured on CNN, C-SPAN, The Hill TV, NY-1, WNYC Public Radio, and NPR/WBUR.
Read Rachel's newsletter: LINK HERE
Subscribe: Tara's Substack "For the Record" https://www.fortherecord.news/
FOLLOW: Courier Newsroom LINK HERE
📚Watch: Judy's "America at a Crossroads" LINK HERE
Learn More: BigTentUSA
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