Martha Minow Offers Solutions to Fixing The Press and Media in America

Jill Wine-Banks and Victor Shi sit down with former Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow to examine how we can become savvy consumers of media, the importance of breaking out of our chosen news silos, and researching primary sources ourselves. Is this enough to restore healthy national debate, reduce the power of big tech algorithms, and protect our democracy for the future?

Martha Minow is the former Dean of Harvard Law School, current 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard, and author of a new book called, “Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of Speech.” Professor Minow has taught at Harvard Law School since 1981 and is widely regarded as an expert in human rights and advocacy for members of racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities as well as digital communications, democracy, privatization, military justice, and ethnic and religious conflict. As Dean of Harvard Law from 2009 and 2017, Professor Minow strengthened public interest and clinical programs; diversity among faculty, staff, and students; interdisciplinary studies; and financial stability for the School. She graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka Illinois, before going to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and Yale Law School.