Lectures on Tap - "Media Psychology: How Stories and Stats Shape Beliefs"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "Media Psychology: How Stories and Stats Shape Beliefs"

🎙️ Speaker: Dr. Hai L. Tran

Why do shark-attack headlines terrify us while we ignore the numbers showing lightning is far more deadly? In an era of media distrust, this gap between story and statistic is more than a curiosity—it’s a crisis.

Drawing from his new book, “Data and Narrative in News Media,” Dr. Hai L. Tran explores how stories and numbers influence what we believe, who we trust, and how we understand the world. Through the lens of media psychology, he examines when narratives persuade, when data convinces, and how each can mislead—or work together to reveal truth.

You’ll gain research-backed, practical insights into evidence-based communication: how journalists and media makers can decide what kind of evidence to use, when, and to what end. The lecture offers a promising path to strengthen journalistic integrity and rebuild public confidence in a polarized, misinformation-saturated environment.

Dr. Tran (Ph.D., UNC–Chapel Hill) teaches data journalism and multimedia storytelling at DePaul University and publishes widely on media effects, agenda setting, and news ecosystems.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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