U-M Event Set To Understand What Reporters Got Right -- And Wrong -- About Trump Election

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) The aftermath of a contentious presidential election is the topic on the table at the University of Michigan as journalists from across the country converge to look at what people got wrong -- and got right -- about a most unusual 2016 election.

The group will discuss criticism of the media, what journalists, pollsters and political experts missed, what they got right, and the path forward in covering an unprecedented presidency and divided country.

The panel includes alumni of the U-M Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists who covered the campaign and will report on the transition, as well as a former Livingston Awards winner and a U-M expert who follows elections and voting behavior.

Wallace House and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will present the event, scheduled from 4-5:30 p.m. in B1580 Blau Hall at Ross School of Business.

"Covering Trump: The Presidency and the Press in Turbulent Times" is free and open to the public.

U of M's Lynette Clemetson, who runs the school's Wallace House journalism fellowship, says it's important to hear from those who were on the front lines of campaign coverage.

"People feel very emotional on both sides about the outcome of the election," Clemetson said. "And there's a lot of talk, but wherever possible the role of journalism in a democratic society is to foster, informed discussion and civil discourse and that's ultimately the goal of journalism."

Clemetson says the next four years will be uncharted waters for journalists.

"By having a room of journalists who have been on the ground and covering the campaign from the beginning and who will move now into roles covering this next administration we can have a discussion of people who actually experienced the campaign on the ground, who moved around the country talking to voters," she said.