WHEN IS A FACT A FACT?

Attend a post-performance discussion about issues raised in the play after the Sunday, June 25 performance of Lifespan of a Fact with a panel of news executives who have outstanding state, regional, and national journalism experience. Among the panel members:

• Martha Nelson — former global editor-in-chief of Yahoo and Time, Inc.

• Jack Marsh — former executive with Gannett and the Freedom Forum

• Marci Christensen-Burdick — former South Dakota broadcast journalist and corporate executive

• Bart Pfankuch — News Watch content director and investigative reporter

Don’t miss this fascinating play, and what promises to be a lively discussion about the definition of facts in journalism. Hosted by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit news organization, and the play’s title sponsor.

Dan Workman Director, The Lifespan of a Fact

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT DIRECTOR’S NOTE

I am thrilled to be directing The Lifespan of a Fact. I love how this play explores the complex relationship between journalism and storytelling. It challenges us to question our perceptions of what we think of as fact vs. a greater truth. Deception and truth in society through newspapers, gossip, etc. is not new. It has probably been going on since an early society had competing agendas about how big the saber tooth tiger was they hunted that day. In today’s society this debate is even more apparent.

Two quotes from the play that I find insightful regarding its argument:

“The wrong facts get in the way of the story”

“By changing paint colors and statistics... by misrepresenting official and searchable documents, you undermine your argument, you undermine society’s trust in itself. Which is why facts have to be the final measure of truth”

JUNE 10–JUNE 30