Kathleen McElroy is the real deal. We were honored to sit with her in Austin, Texas to discuss the current state of journalism in America. Kathleen is the director of the School of Journalism and a professor at The University of Texas at Austin. She came to academia after more than thirty years as a professional journalist at The New York Times and the Austin American-Statesman. Her interests include newsroom ethics and the role of race in collective memory, sports media and obituaries. Our discussion revolved around public trust levels in journalism and democracy, the current media landscape and how we got here. We talked about what still qualifies as “news” when all information online appears the same to the reader – or, perhaps more aptly, the “consumer.” We explored the phenomena of rogue lone wolf “journalists” who work outside established news room systems. We talked about the breakdown of gatekeeping and, of course, we discussed disinformation! Kathleen helped us break it down and paint a real picture of the current landscape. One key takeaway is that we all have permission to read the comics page in the newspaper and watch tiktok videos online about cats. Thank you, Kathleen, for your perspective!