Ryan Holiday, author of Trust Me I’m Lying, visited Stockton this Thursday to talk about his former life as a media manipulator for the freshman convocation. After warm opening statements from the president of the Student Senate Victoria Dambroski, Holiday took to the stage and began.

Ryan Holiday signing books after his “Trust Me I’m Lying Talk”

 He started off with a brief recall of his first month of college where he, similar to us, was given a book to read over the summer and had to attend a talk from the author. Holiday described how this was the first time he had met a writer and how awed he was to see firsthand that she was just another person. It gave helped him realize the freedoms he had in the sense that he was not confined to any one role or profession, he could buy and large be as creative as he wanted in finding ways to finance his mortgage.

After a segue into how he met his longtime friend Tucker Max and an overview of his work as a publicist at American Apparel, Holiday broke into his three main points. First was the understanding that the public’s outrage is being taken advantage of. He pointed out at two examples of the same “Kellyanne Conway being fired” story from left and right perspectives, and then divulged that the articles were written from the same source as a way to keep the political dichotomy hot. The second point was about understanding the digital divide, and knowing that internet literacy is a very real skill that a very real portion of the population does not have. In this portion, he explained how 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook. His third and last idea was to unsubscribe from the news. So much of the breaking news today is speculation or has no direct impact on your life, and Holiday proposes just… not listening to what isn’t pertinent. Stop the push notifications. Stop the noise. Simple as that. He ended the presentation with pictures of his pet donkeys. Not a total loss.

After the convocation, I had a chance to meet Holiday and ask him a question while he signed my book. Everything he discussed about the news culture was centralized to America, so I wanted to hear his view internationally. I essentially asked how or if his tactics of manipulating the media are applied in areas without the freedom of the press we experience her in the US, places  like Syria, Ukraine, and Russia.

Holiday explained that it was often the government executing these techniques. In order to appear as if the country does have a free press space, the regimes will bombard citizens with so much information that they cannot discern what is truth from what is fact. He described this as a “top-down” technique and commented on its irregularity, and he used North Korea in his explanation.

When he returned my copy of Trust Me I’m Lying, there was a small note above his signature. It simply read “Use this book for good and not evil.”

On Saturday September 9^th, 2017, I participated in my first Stockton Day of Service. Being perfecting honest, I didn’t want to go. The only reason I originally signed up and went was because it was a service event that counted towards my requirements to remain in the Honors Program this fall. I really wasn’t a happy camper that I was going to go, but from 9am until sometime later that afternoon, what I found was pleasantly surprising.

No doubt, I walked in with a bad attitude, just looking for reasons to get pissed off about having to go. To my surprise though, I had a really hard time doing so. The first event I was part of, I was tasked with assembling and binding children’s coloring books with string. However, once I got into the rhythm of what I was doing and music was playing, I found I was starting to have a good time. I thought I would have enjoyed spending my morning in bed, but the positive environment of the first event made me feel good to do good, and I really enjoyed participating.

The second event I went to was a seminar about the heroin epidemic in Atlantic County and across the state of New Jersey. Heroin has indirectly affected parts of my life in the past, so learning and listening to these people talk about the problem felt down to earth, and very real, but was really insightful into the issues our society faces today. I walked away with a different perception about the problem, and gained some valuable insight I can carry with me.

Then I moved on and assisted in packaging rice meals for third world countries. Again, what could have been a long hour and ten minutes of scooping rice into bags, was not. Music was blasting, everyone was singing, people were in a good mood, and I could feel the energy in the room. The time just flew by. By the end of it all, I didn’t want to stop, and looking at all the boxes of food I just packaged was a sincerely proud moment to look at what my peers and I at Stockton can do in such a short period of time.

Lastly, all the groups met up back in the campus center event room, for Kevin Wanzer, a speaker and comedian, who gave not only a heartfelt story about raising his adopted transgender child, but made the stories hilarious. His presentation was a great ending to a great day. And while I walked into Day of Service that morning miserable that I am using my Saturday to do this work, I walked out that afternoon in an awesome mood and feeling accomplished. I look forward to participating in another Day of Service soon.

On september 19, 2017 Dr. Julian E. Zelizer came to Stockton to present his topic of constitutional democracy in the era of Donald Trump. He posed a question “Is the state of American politics currently facing a constitutional crisis?”  Dr. Zelizer is a political analyst and a historian who used his knowledge to study the current president, Donald Trump as well as his administration, and then used the information to compare to past presidents and their parties as well as success. He found that Trumps style in dealing with foreign policies and aggressive leadership is not very different from the way presidents such as Reagan, Johnson, Kennedy, Clinton, and Bush lead our country.

One of the most interesting subjects Dr. Zelizer talked about was that there will be a democratic congress by 2019. This change will be due to Trump continuously causing republicans to stand up against him. Not only was it informational to hear what is to be expected in our near future, but I gained a much better understanding of how our government works and the effects our president has on individual people as well as mass groups of leadership, such as our congress in our country.  

Today’s education system seems to skip, or only lightly touch on teaching about our government branches and politics. Dr. Zelizer spoke about our President’s relationship with congress and how his power can be, and should be, checked or even belittled by congress. Understanding that students are not as involved as they should be, Dr. Zelizer suggests students at Stockton and all over our country become more engaged. Ways that Dr Zelizer suggests getting involved are through voting, attending debates, and participating in civic activity.  

Constitution Day at Stockton was very enlightening as well as thought provoking. Dr. Zelizer lead the audience through an analysis of the issues our government has been faced with under President Trump, as well as the importance of foreign policies. With all the recent negative news it was important that someone could shed some positive light on our country’s current situation. By concluding with questions the audience was able to get involved in the conversation and clear up any misconceptions. Overall I felt like I learned a lot about the Presidency and the students of Stockton can now have a better grasp on American politics.

On Thursday, September 29^th from 8:00 – 11:00 PM, Stockton’s Pride Alliance hosted an open mic night in the Coffee House of the Campus Center. They planned the event with the intent of supporting the bisexual and pan-sexual community. Anyone who wanted to was encouraged to sign up and perform on the stage. The stage was adorned with pride flags, a microphone, and speaker. As performers took the stage, audience members were welcomed to enjoy cookies, fruit, and hot chocolate provided by the Pride Alliance.

Many people elected to sing when they got their chance on stage. The singers often explained that they had strong emotional connections with the songs that they had performed. One performer expressed that music was always a coping mechanism for her during difficult times because it expressed her feelings far better than she thought she ever could. Many of the other performers agreed. Some sang acapella while others sang with the accompaniment of their own instruments or background music. The Pride Alliance was very accommodating to however the volunteers wanted to perform.

Other performers entered the stage to share stories of self-discovery and struggles they had gone through to get to that very point. In particular, one transgender male explained his past of struggling with identity and his difficulty of coming out to his parents. He expressed that things have gotten much better thanks to the incredible support of his friends and school. He then concluded by encouraging anyone who had any questions or just wanted to talk to approach him after the performance.

The atmosphere was one of complete acceptance and support. Every performer was applauded and cheered for. Their effort and bravery was always recognized. It takes a lot of courage to get up on that stage and open up about such personal things. The overwhelming support was absolutely appreciated.

This event was very important to the Stockton community as it provided members of the LGBT community with a platform to express themselves.  For others who did not perform, it allowed them to hear from people who may be going through something similar. Something that was said by a performer may have been exactly what an audience member needed to hear. It showed those who may be struggling, currently, that there are people out there who understand how they are feeling. For both performers and audience members, this event reminded them that they are not alone.

As for the heterosexual audience members, it provided them with a perspective they may never have realized before. The anecdotes shared by the performers brought forth struggles that heterosexual people have most likely never experienced. It opened up eyes and brought forth conversations that a heterosexual person may not typically have. It is so important to see life through someone else’s perspective. This was an amazing event to open up minds.

The themes of the night were support and acceptance. Many performers discussed how important it was to have a support system throughout their struggles and to feel accepted for who they are. Through this event, the Pride Alliance showcased not only the support system that they provide, but also the support that the Stockton community gives. It was an incredible night for all in attendance as it reminded everyone that no matter what struggle they are facing or battle they are fighting, they are not alone.

I didn’t hate Trust Me I’m Lying when I first read it. But I certainly didn’t like it either. Media manipulation isn’t exactly a secret, nor is it some abstract topic hard to understand. Actually, I would think it’s pretty simple: powerful individuals with ulterior motives exploit an unsuspecting public for money or otherwise. Going into the event, I had expected him to reiterate this theme of the book a few more times.

Yesterday, on September 28th at the Stockton University Freshman Convocation, Ryan Holiday did speak. And he did reiterate the themes of his book. He discussed a how the media system is broken and how bloggers manipulate information and often lie to catch the public’s attention and gain more page views.  He also talked about how people encourage this system by getting their emotions involved and sharing it with their friends. But again, all of this was already laid out in the book, and therefore not the takeaway from his presentation.

The things I found interesting about Holiday’s presentation were those that were not illustrated in the book. For one, occasionally throughout book, one could get the feeling that he did not ardently disapprove of the media system, as he didn’t seem very vocal in his condemnation. In fact, he even tells his audience to do what they want with the information that he has laid out and during one of his interviews, I even got the impression that he was still in the business of media manipulation. But during his presentation, he seemed very discontented with the media and the way that it works, and clarified that he is no longer in that business, that the book was his way of breaking those connections and walking away from this thing that was increasingly itching at his conscience. Or perhaps have current events, including Donald Trump’s rise to presidency, altered his views over time?

He went on to discuss the importance of “media literacy”, which I think isn’t something that is talked about all that much. Actually, it is apparent that it isn’t because, as Holiday disclosed in his presentation, 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook and 7% legitimately believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. And yes, I did check. He wasn’t lying. We live in a world where fake news spreads quicker than real news, and the online media industry understands that and fully exploits it. Holiday explains that it is increasingly essential that we are able to discern what is and isn’t fictitious and what is and isn’t relevant to us and our lives, because it is so easy to get pulled into the trap that is laid out for us.

Holiday’s presentation at Freshman Convocation was, in a way, more thought-provoking than the book was—at least for me it was. It encouraged me to look beyond the pages of his book into the world in which I live and look critically at my own usage of media and question whether or not the news I am reading is important and relevant to me.

Finally, I had one question for Holiday, which I never got the chance to ask, and I now leave for you, dear audience: if everything we read and see in the media can be fake, how do we discern what is real and what isn’t? Or have the lines between the two become so blurred that they no longer exist?