AUGUSTA — The topic of the next Forum on the Future “News, Real or Fake” is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, at Jewett Hall on the university campus in Augusta. A snow date is scheduled for Feb. 4.

The University of Maine at Augusta College of Arts and Sciences and the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College event will feature a panel presentation with a refreshment break, followed by a question-and-answer period. Forums are the presentation of a variety ideas on a subject, and are not intended to be debates, according to a news release from the university.

Marilyn Canavan, a former state legislator representing part of Waterville and the retired director of the State Ethics Committee, will introduce and moderate the forum.

It’s common to hear repeated accusations of news items being real or fake, and many are confused about how these terms are used and when they are accurate. Accusations using the term fake abound, and even trusted sources are questioned or even denigrated, according to the release.

Mal Leary is the political correspondent for Maine Public, who is based at the State House in Augusta. A winner of many awards, he reports regularly on state government and politics. He is a native Mainer, and a lifelong journalist. He was the former owner and operator of the Capital News Service also based in the State House. In addition to his writing, he also belongs to the Society of Professional Journalism and Editors, and is the president of the National Freedom Coalition of Journalists based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and vice president of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition.

Bill Nemitz is a columnist for Maine Today publishing who comes to us from a wide range of experience. He is an experienced wartime correspondent, having followed U.S. troops three times to Iraq, and twice to Afghanistan. In fact, in 2004 he was cited a Maine Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press Association for his reporting of the Maine Army National Guard 133rd Engineering Battalion in Iraq. In 2015 he became a member of the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame, and in the same year received a Distinguished Service Award from the New England Newspaper Association.

Jessica Lowell is a journalist for the Kennebec Journal who has spent 30 years reporting and editing stories large and small in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Wyoming. She has won awards for investigatory and explanatory journalism and is a Fellow for the Knight Certification for Specialized Journalism and the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources. She lives in Wiscasset.

UMASC is open to those who are 50 years or older, their spouses and partners. For more information, call 621-3551, email umasc@maine.edu or visit uma.org.

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