View the video recording here.

Professor Randy Dryer of the S.J. Quinney College of Law will discuss the growing threat of misinformation in all its forms and will provide practical tips on how to spot misinformation. Having trusted sources of information is essential to an effective democracy and the last few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of deliberate lies, falsehoods and conspiracy theories in the political and social arenas. As a result, both our physical and political health has been put at risk. The traditional arbiters of accuracy in news information have been eroded and individuals must now assume the individual responsibility of ascertaining what is reliable information and what is not.

Randy Dryer, JD

Journalist.  Lawyer.  Professor. Passionate about the First and Fourth Amendments

I have professionally reinvented myself several times over.  I started my career as a working journalist in both print and TV and then went to law school with the thought of becoming a network correspondent reporting on the Supreme Court.  Along the way, I developed a love of the law and thus began my second career as a practicing lawyer at Utah’s largest law firm.  There, I developed a media law litigation practice where I was able to combine law and journalism by representing many local and national news organizations, including 60 minutes, CNN, the New York Times, the Associated Press, Redbook Magazine and the Salt Lake Tribune, among others.

After 30 years as a practicing lawyer, I began phase three of my professional career in 2011 when I was named as the Presidential Honors Professor at the University with a joint appointment at the University of Utah College of Law and the Honors College.  I teach courses on media and privacy law and civil litigation.

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