Panelists at the Center for Ethics in Journalism’s first event of the semester discussed the issues of race, gender and journalists’ implicit biases in covering the two while reporting. Calvin White, the chairman of Fulbright’s history department, Lisa Corrigan, co-chairwoman of Fulbright’s Gender Studies department and Jesse Holland, the race and ethnicity reporter for the AP’s Washington Bureau and a visiting professor in the journalism department, described how race and gender intersect in mainstream political reporting, social-issue stories and breaking news coverage.

Panelists began the discussion considering how racial undertones drove “the birthers” obsessed with determining President Barack Obama’s birthplace. White, who said he would speak from a historical context, argued that the ongoing questioning of the president’s birthplace serves as a way for political pundits to undermine, discredit and distract from the president’s agendas, a move with extreme “racial undertones,” as previous presidents proved their authentic places of birth as a sort of “one-time litmus test.” Holland added that the media’s role in “the birther” debate is difficult, saying that the drama is “undeniably something that people want to read,” which puts the media in a bad position.

Panelists also discussed how gender played into media coverage of the first presidential debate Monday night. Corrigan highlighted how Donald Trump’s jab about Hillary Clinton’s stamina and his constant interruptions showcase the effects of a broader societal issue, what Corrigan called the “white male fragility” complex. Looking at the election as a whole, Corrigan called the race “a real crisis moment for journalism” and “this generation’s Watergate.” All the panelists agreed that the election would serve as a case study and precedent for the future of political journalism.

Speakers also explored how writing about race and gender with historical context is necessary but often ignored because of the profession’s constant 24-hour news cycle. All offered advice for journalists to improve: Holland suggested that reporters should do research and contextualize information on their beats before news breaks. White implored journalists to acknowledge their own implicit biases, even as they remain objective and exclude explicit biases in their writing. Corrigan called on journalists to cultivate empathy for their subjects and sources.