Join the Estes Valley Voice Monday evening, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. along with filmmaker Don Colacino for a screening of his new documentary “Trusted Sources” followed by a panel discussion about civility in the public square and the role of the media in political polarization. Click here for tickets.
Public trust in the media is at an all time low. This past week, Gallup reported that Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately, and fairly.”
How does the media we consume inform our worldview? How does it reinforce our biases? How do we still remain neighbors, friends, colleagues, and family when we disagree strongly with others politically? How do we find ways to heal the divide and build a stronger, more resilient local community and country, and regain civility?
Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall, Rev. Elizabeth Jameson, Vanessa Otero, the creator of the Media Bias Chart ®, and the filmmaker Don Colacino will participate in the post-screening discussion.
Colacino is a writer, producer, and director of commercial, industrial, and documentary films. In addition to “Trusted Sources,” a film which explores the decline of trust in news and ways to restore it.
The Media Bias Chart was designed in 2006, by Ortero, a patent attorney from Denver as a media literacy tool to visualize media bias. Using classic research methods of content analysis and a group of 60 trained analysts, the chart is a grid that ranks media sources based on two two different scales — political bias on the horizontal axis and reliability on the vertical axis — along seven categories of political bias and eight categories of news reliability.
Her company, Ad Fontes Media, takes its name from the Latin “to the source.” Ortero’s method is to go to a media source and rate its bias and reliability by analyzing the source and its actual content.
Jameson holds a Master of Divinity from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and is a graduate of Harvard University. She was the vice president and COO at Seabury Western Theological Seminary which was associated with Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and most recently the rector of St. Simon’s Episcopal Church in Arlington Heights, Ill. She and her husband moved to Estes Park in 2020 and she writes and shares her photography at Broken Open, about love, healing, and the spiritual journey.
Hall was elected mayor of Estes Park in 2024 after retiring a year ago from an 18 year career at Estes Park Health where he was the chief information officer. Hall is a musician and when he is not doing duty as the mayor, he can be found playing guitar and singing with the Blue Sky Mountain Band, Buster and the Boomers, and other musical groups. When approached about being a member of a panel about civility and political discourse in the public square, he readily responded, “I’m all about civility.” Hall’s demeanor on the Estes Park Board of Trustees could best be characterized as one that is measured and consensus building.
This event is an Above the Noise Community Event funded through the Colorado Media Project and the Rose Community Foundation.
Learn more about the Estes Valley Voice’s Civility in the Estes Valley Begins with Me initiative, sign the civility pledge, read a copy of Civility of the Soul: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves by author Alexandra Hudson.
The event will be held at the Historic Park Theater, 130 Moraine Ave., Estes Park. Tickets are free and available through Eventbrite. As a thank you to our subscribers for their support during the first four months of the Estes Valley Voice, subscribers will receive a ticket for a sack of popcorn and either a soft drink or adult beverage at the cash bar.
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