McClatchy Symposium 2023: "Opinion Writing in a Polarized Age: A Conversation with Bret Stephens"

For generations, opinion writers at major U.S. newspapers were agenda setters, shaping how Americans thought about pressing policy issues. How has the role of the columnist changed amid a proliferation of news outlets, increasingly toxic and rampant polarization, and the explosion of social media, which enables anyone with an opinion to share it widely?
What value do commentators have in 2023 and how do they navigate the new media ecosystem to have impact?
The 2023 McClatchy Symposium is a discussion between New York Times Op-ed columnist Bret Stephens and Janine Zacharia, the Carlos Kelly McClatchy Lecturer in Stanford’s Department of Communication.
Bret Stephens is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times. He previously spent 16 years at the Wall Street Journal, most notably writing "Global View," the foreign-affairs column, for which he was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary.
Janine Zacharia is the Carlos Kelly McClatchy Lecturer in Stanford's Department of Communication.