Newspaper Page Text
Sunday, February Pl
College dean talks media relations during series
By Alexander Popp
apopp@forsythnews.com
This week at the Cumming
Library, as part of the 2018
Great Decisions geopolitical
discussion series, Forsyth
County residents engaged in a
discussion about the media, for
eign policy and the concept of
fake news...
The discussion was led by
Christopher Jespersen, dean of
the University of North
Georgia’s College of Arts and
Letters, who talked the partici
pants through the history of
how American media has
attempted to shape public per
ception of the world.
“] want people to take away
from this that the news is not
necessarily fake. It’s not made
up. It is the product of certain
forces,” Jespersen said. “I'd
like for people to think about
why we latch on to certain
ideas that support our notions
of the way things should be, as
opposed to thinking of things
more critically.”
During the presentation por
tion of the event, Jespersen
talked about a variety -of differ
ent historical examples of how
media sources have interacted
Authentic Irish music, dance comes to Gainesville in March
ByAmberTyner = o
FCN regional staff
The Young Irelanders will
bring traditional Irish song,
music and dance to the heart of
Gainesville this March.
Traveling all the way from
Ireland, the performers will be
visiting 7:30 p.m. March 6 at
Brenau University’s Pearce
Auditorium as part of The Arts
Council Signature Series.
“Our Signatures Series is a
group of performances that
attracts a large audience. We
bring nationally and internation
ally renowned groups to the
area,” said Nairika Cornett, mar
keting and arts in schools coor
dinator at The Arts Council.
.
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with the formation of foreign
policy, from the sinking of the
Lusitania by German U-Boats
and Time Magazine’s favorable
coverage of China during
World War 11, to the aggression
political leaders like Joseph
McCarthy, Richard Nixon and
Donald Trump have shown
towards unfavorable media cov
erage. . ;
~ “What I want to show the
audience is that this is not nec
essarily new,” he said.
After the 40-minute presenta
tion, Jespersen opened the floor
to discussion and questions
from the audience.
The first question was made
by longtime Forsyth County
resident Kelly Esbeck, who
asked Jespersen whether bias in
media is-growing as years go
by. '
“Approximately 12 years
ago, we started getting one
extreme and the other with Fox
and CNN ... Do you see any
hope as to a neutral source?”
Esbeck asked.
Jespersen replied to Esbeck
saying, “The notion that things
were better in the past — I'm
just going tell you this: they.
weren’t. They were different,
and the means of spreading
“We try and offer a variety of
entertainment. It really runs the
gamut.”
The Young Irelanders will be
the second group performing as
part of the series this year.
Eric Cunningham, producer of
The Young Irelanders, said the
performers are hand-picked by
the Irish Cultural Academy each
year and are like a spokesgroup
for the country’s traditional
music and dance.
“These are people who often
either have won competitions or
are studying music at university
level and they've shown real
promise, and then they're
brought together,” he said. *“The
Irish Cultural Academy has been
doing this for a number of years,
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: i e i For the Forsyth County News
Christopher Jespersen, dean of the University of North Georgia's College of Arts and
Letters, speaks to a group of Forsyth County residents.on the relationship between media
coverage and the formation of foreign policy at the fourth instaliment of the 2018 Great
Decision series hosted by the Cumming Library. e
things was different, but we are
not a whole lot different.”
After the event, Esbeck said
that she and her husband have
been coming to the Great
Decisions series since the pro
but only in the last, I would say,
maybe four years, did they start
putting together the group called
‘The Young Irelanders’ to show
case the best up-and-coming tal
ent that Ireland has to offer.”
Cunningham said the group
develops its unique performance
to take listeners on a sensory
tour along Ireland’s Wild
Atlantic Way. ~- .
“On the west coast of Ireland,
this Wild Atlantic coastal route
is the longest designated coastal
route in the world. From north
to south on that there are coun
ties, cities, towns (and) places in
the countryside that have put a
twist on the music in different
areas,” he said. “The group will
then perform some well-known
gram started in Forsyth County,
because they see it as a way-to
get information straight from
the source, hearing from lectur
ers who have been out in the
world and know what they are.
pieces that are-known from cer
tain destipations on the Wild
Atlantic route. In the program of
the actual show then, all of those
seven ‘counties on the route are
represented in terms of the
music, song and dance found in
those areas.” N
While this is the first time The
Arts Council will be hosting
The Young Irelanders as part of
their program, Cornett said the
tickets for this type of perfor
mance have been selling very
well so far. :
~ “We’ve had great response
about bringing a group like
this,” she said. “It’s a very
unique opportunity for us to get
these performers. The lure to
bring this group is it's a young,
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* Forsythiews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
talking about.. .
"~ “They don't have-a left or
right slant,” she said, “That’s
what I ‘appreciate; it’s just the
knowledge of what is happen
ing.” : .
-vibrant group. These young art
ists are-just fantastic.” .
, Cunningham said the group’s
performance in Gainesville will
bring the best in Irish traditional
music, song and dance.
“Whether it’s a well-known
emotive song telling the story of
the immigrant Irish, a foot-tap
ping reel or jig, the dexterity of
our Irish dancers or a moving
instrumental piece inspired by
‘lreland’s landscape, The Young
Irelanders has it-all. and will not
disappoint,” he said. “Through
our performances we try to
make sad people happy and
happy. people -happy to sad and
all those in between will find
something heartening in the per
formance, we believe.” -
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Ryland Gore, MD
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