What does it mean to be media-savvy? What is the truth in a post-factual era — and who defines it? How can we achieve basic media literacy in an age when telling lies has become a method to undermine our faith in facts? What constitutes productive criticism and healthy skepticism of the press and what is an unfounded attack? I spoke with Pamela Newkirk about ways of maintaining the right kind of skepticism toward the media in an age when the independent press is under constant attack. Pamela Newkirk is a widely published journalist and scholar who holds an appointment as Professor in the Department of Journalism at New York University. Most recently her award-winning book Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga examines how pernicious racial attitudes contributed to the 1906 exhibition of a young Congolese man in the Bronx Zoo monkey house.Her articles on media, race and African American art and culture have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Nation and Artnews.