Roxy Theater Missoula, MT
Mary Auld
Program Manager, Montana Media Lab at the University of Montana School of Journalism; Freelance Journalist
andDante Filpula Ankney
Host, Montana Public Radio
Don't Look Up— Communicating calamity: journalism and global disaster
Program Description
Journalists Dante Filpula Ankney and Mary Auld of the Montana Media Lab discuss the role journalists play in informing the public about disasters. The talk will dive into the way journalists have covered climate change—a threat similar to the film's comet.
Presented At
Roxy Theater Missoula, MT
Film Synopsis
Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.
Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem: it's on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it's too late proves shockingly comical -- what will it take to get the world to just look up?! — Rotten Tomatoes
Photo courtesy of Netflix
About the Speaker
Mary Auld (she/her) is a journalist and teacher in Missoula. She works as the Program Manager for the Montana Media Lab at the University of Montana School of Journalism, and a freelance journalist. Mary's reporting focuses on human-environment interactions, and has been aired and published around the West. She has a master's in environmental journalism from the University of Montana.
Dante Filpula Ankney is the evening newscast host at Montana Public Radio and a recent graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism. His work as a journalist has won awards and been published throughout the West.