Targeting Truth: How Museums Can Collaboratively Address Social Issues

Abstract

In early January 2017, educators and leaders at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum considered how they could best address the need for news literacy training in the wake of the fake news eruption. In the spirit of shared authority, the Reagan Library and Museum partnered with Pepperdine University to create a public forum, “Truth and the News,” to engage attendees in an analysis of their own relationship with the news and develop an action plan for future news consumption. The event included a panel of professional journalists and special training session for K-12 teachers. The partnership and forum expressed the Reagan Library and Museum’s determination that museums have a responsibility to address contentious social issues with their surrounding communities. The museum-university partnership elevated the ability to address such issues through an approach that included three distinct perspectives: (1) the historical and psychological, (2) the professional, and (3) the pedagogical.