The Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies will observe Constitution Day with the annual Cole Campbell Dialogue on Journalism and Democracy, Sept. 20 at 5:30 p.m., at the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center Wells Fargo Auditorium. The event, “Digitizing Pinocchio: Determining the truth in a Democratic online society,” will feature Toma Bedolla, founder and chief executive officer of Veracious Entropy, and Michael Fancher, Reynolds Visiting Chair in the Ethics of Entrepreneurial and Innovative Journalism.

A graduate in physics from the Colorado School of Mines, Bedolla is pioneering an effort to measure the veracity of content and credibility of sources on the Internet.

He has served as the interim CEO for Approbatics, a development firm that delivers low-cost development resources for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Bedolla also co-founded the House of Genius, which develops networking meetings that help entrepreneurs brainstorm business strategies.

Fancher, who joined the Reynolds School in August, will explore the origins of Bedolla’s ambitious project, public expectation of truth in electronic media, and how democracy may be positively or negatively influenced by Internet sources and material.

The forum is open to the public at no charge. Questions and comments from the audience will be welcomed.

Cole C. Campbell was dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies from 2004 - 2007. He died in a single-car accident in Reno Jan. 5, 2007. A brilliant thinker and communications philosopher, Campbell is remembered as an innovator in pushing media companies to examine the respective roles of the media and citizenry in public life.

Following Dean Campbell’s death, an endowment was created to support ongoing discussion and debate about his ideas. That discussion is formalized each year through the Cole Campbell Dialogue on Journalism and Democracy, conducted by the Reynolds School of Journalism and held on the Nevada, Reno campus.