The need for better public understanding of complex social issues has never been greater, particularly in an election year when questions about income and opportunity disparities are major campaign themes.

Yet newsroom managers often rate stories that impact marginalized communities as being of less importance or of lesser public interest. Faced with declining audiences and advertising revenues, news outlets have drastically reduced their reporting ranks and budgets for enterprise and investigative stories. Many newsroom staffs still do not reflect the demographics of the communities they serve.

Join this panel discussion for a candid assessment of the stories that mainstream media is failing to cover and ways to increase and improve the quality of reporting on these issues.

Panelists:

• Jim Avila, Senior National Correspondent, ABC News and White House correspondent for Fusion, the ABC/Univision joint venture
• Dean Baquet, Managing Editor for News, The New York Times
• Kathy Chow, Executive Director,Asian American Journalists Association
• Janine Jackson, Program Director, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
• Columbia Journalism School Professor Dale Maharidge, Author of “Someplace like America: Tales from the New Great Depression”
• Moderated by Calvin Sims, President and CEO of International House