The conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group is forcing local news anchors around the country to read a script that parrots their corporate views. To discuss, we FEATURE Alicia Shepard. Alicia is a visiting media ethics professor at the University of Arkansas. Previously, she worked for USAID in Afghanistan as a press liaison after having spent a year reporting and training Afghan reporters. She taught media ethics at University of Nevada at Las Vegas, before which she was NPR ombudsman from 2007 to 2011. For nearly a decade, she wrote for American Journalism Review on such things as ethics, the newspaper industry and how journalism works - or doesn't. For that work, the National Press Club awarded her its top media criticism prize three different years. Media includes: Washingtonian, People, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune.

The Trump administration has had many resignations over the past year and has been accused of lacking a consistent message. To discuss, we FEATURE Lori Cox Han. Lori joined the Chapman University faculty in 2005 as Professor of Political Science. Her major area of expertise is American government, with research and teaching interests in the presidency, women and politics, media and politics, and political leadership. She is the author of In It to Win: Electing Madam President(Bloomsbury, 2015); Presidents and the American Presidency  (Oxford University Press, 2013); Handbook to American Democracy (Facts on File, 2012); A Presidency Upstaged: The Public Leadership of George H.W. Bush (Texas A&M University Press, 2011); Women and U.S. Politics: The Spectrum of Leadership, 2nd ed. (Lynne Rienner, 2010); andGoverning From Center Stage: White House Communication Strategies During the Television Age of Politics (Hampton Press, 2001). Media includes: The Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, USA Today, KNBC, KPCC (NPR affiliate).  

Protests continue over the death of Stephon Clark, an unarmed Black man that was fatally shot in his backyard by police officers in Sacramento, Calif. Officers claimed that they had mistaken his iPhone for a gun, but an autopsy has revealed that he was mostly shot in the back. To discuss, we FEATURE Chantá Parker. Chantá is the Special Counsel for New Initiatives at the Innocence Project in New York, NY. In this position, she directs the development of strategies by using the unique lens of innocence to address three main problems: the growing crisis in indigent defense, racial bias in the criminal justice system, and how this massive system forces many people, including the innocent, to plead guilty to misdemeanors. Media includes: NYU Law Website, Essie Justice Group, New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Gambit.

Teachers in Oklahoma gathered on Monday at the state Capitol as part of a statewide walkout to protest school spending cuts. To discuss, we FEATURE Erika Soto Lamb. Erika is the National Director of Strategic Communications for Democrats for Education Reform. Between 2012 and December 2017 she was the Chief Communications Officer for Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with more than three million supporters including moms, mayors, survivors and everyday Americans who are fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and protect people from gun violence. Media includes: MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times. 

World Health Day is on April 7 and we FEATURE Dr. Chloe E. Bird. Dr. Bird is a Senior Sociologist at RAND and Professor of Policy Analysis at Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her work focuses on assessing and addressing sex and gender differences in health and health care and working to improve the science on women's health by increasing women's representation as subjects in research and increasing the use of gender-based analysis to assess the extent to which research findings apply to women as well as men. Much of her research examines social and biological determinants of differences in men's and women's health and health care, including neighborhood effects. Media includes: CNN, Dr. Phil, NPR, Ms. Magazine, The New York Times, The Atlantic.  

During a protest in Gaza, 18 unarmed Palestinians were killed and the Israeli military is facing allegations of unlawful use of force. To discuss, we FEATURE Rebecca Vilkomerson. Rebecca is the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a leading national organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just peace for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 125,000 supporters around the country, over 35 chapters, an active Rabbinical Cabinet and a growing youth wing. In 2010, she was named  as one of the Forward 50, the Forward’s  list of 50 most influential Jewish Americans. Media includes: The Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, The Nation, The Hill, Huffington Post, Tikkun and Zeek.

A flier declares today, April 3, 'Punish a Muslim' Day in the U.S. and U.K., offering 100 points for beating up a Muslim. To discuss, we FEATURE Margari Aziza Hill. Margari is co-founder and Programming  Director of Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), assistant editor at AltMuslimah,  and columnist at MuslimMatters. She is on the Advisory Council of Islam, Social Justice & Interreligious Engagement Program at the Union Theological Seminary and winner of MPAC’s 2015 Change Maker Award. She has nearly a decade of teaching experiences at all levels from elementary, secondary, college level, to adult education. Media includes: The Washngton Post, Time, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, USA Today. 

An attack by Boko Haram militants has left more than a dozen people dead in northern Nigeria. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Bree Akesson. Dr. Akesson is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. She is also a faculty affiliate with the CPC Learning Network, the Centre for Research on Children and Families at McGill University, and the International Migration Research Centre at Balsillie School of International Affairs. Her program of research focuses broadly on international child protection issues, ranging from micro-level understandings of the experiences of war-affected children and families to macro-level initiatives to strengthen the global social systems. Dr. Akesson has worked in a variety of international settings including Kenya (2001-2002), Chechnya (2005), northern Uganda (2007-2008), Palestine (2010-2012), and Nigeria (2014). Media includes: Daily News Egypt, Toronto Star, CKUT Radio.