Hearst TV will launch The Hard Truth About Bias: Images and Reality, a one-hour digital program hosted by Soledad O’Brien, Oct. 8. O’Brien hosts the Hearst TV public affairs show Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien.
The Hard Truth About Bias: Images and Reality is the first installment of the Matter of Fact Listening Tour, with a series of quarterly virtual forums to be presented in 2021.
The program will livestream on MatterofFact.TV and dozens of Hearst station and newspaper sites.
“This is a critical conversation for our country, and we are proud to launch this project, expanding the Matter of Fact brand and leveraging journalism resources from across the company,” said Hearst president and CEO Steven R. Swartz. “The talented, diverse team bringing this project to life is taking on important topics with insightful guests to provide viewers with a range of valuable perspectives.”
The Hard Truth About Bias will feature conversations about the relationship of race and privilege, racial stress, the impact of bias in the images and language in our daily news and information, and the creation of stereotypes and how they influence the way people think.
“The first step toward understanding each other is to listen to each other, especially when it comes to the issue of race,” said O’Brien. “We need to hear from people of different perspectives so we can bring the challenges of equality and justice into full view where they can be scrutinized, confronted and addressed. We need to understand how each of us participates in creating biases and stereotypes and own our responsibility to dismantle them.”
Guests include Vice journalist Jemele Hill, CBS News reporter Wes Lowery, screenwriter John Ridley and musical artist Genesis Be.
“With her intelligently conversational style and deep commitment to these issues, no one is better suited to moderate and facilitate such an important program as Soledad,” said Hearst Television president Jordan Wertlieb. “Utilizing the broad resources of Hearst, The Hard Truth About Bias will be a very thoughtful and impactful program during this important time of social change.”
