Justice Anthony Kennedy Speaks at Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change

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Jul 25, 2017
by Salzburg Global Seminar
Justice Anthony Kennedy Speaks at Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change

US Supreme Court Justice shares thoughts on cyber age and takes questions from students Justice Anthony Kennedy speaking to students at this year's Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change

US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy made a guest appearance at this year’s Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change to discuss the revolution of the cyber age.

The senior Associate Justice addressed more than 80 students on Monday morning as the second week of the Academy got under way.

Justice Kennedy spoke to students for an hour, covering topics such as the opportunities and limitations the internet has presented and the significance of civic participation.

At the beginning of his talk, Justice Kennedy said, “Journalists have to begin to understand we are in a new world.” He went onto discuss how conventional institutions and structures were being bypassed as a result of the internet and how individuals were now participating in the revolution of the cyber age.

During his lecture, Justice Kennedy also reserved praise for Wikipedia, which he described as one of the most fascinating and inspiring works of modern civilization. He remarked on the vast body of human knowledge which had been collected, describing it as a marvelous tribute to the human spirit.

He said, “The cyber age has tremendous potential, as indicated with Wikipedia. But if it bypasses space and time where there’s just this obsession with the present – this neglect of our heritage and history – then our world will change.”

Following his talk, Justice Kennedy proceeded to take questions from the audience for half an hour.

Students at this year’s Academy – Voices Against Extremism: Media Responses to Global Populism – are reflecting on the media’s coverage of global populism, the role it has played in contributing to it, and how the media might be used to stem this movement.

Justice Kennedy first attended Schloss Leopoldskron in 1988 – the same year he was appointed to the US Supreme Court – as a member of the faculty for Session 269 – American Law and Legal Institutions.

Since then, Justice Kennedy has served as faculty or as a guest lecturer at two law-related sessions, five sessions of the Global Citizenship Program, and on one other occasion at the inaugural Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change. In 2016, he hosted the sixth annual Lloyd N. Cutler Lecture on the Rule of Law: Law and the Use of Force.


Voices Against Extremism: Media Responses to Global Populism is part of Salzburg Global Seminar’s long-running multi-year program, the Salzburg Academy of Media and Global Change. More information on the session can be found here: http://www.salzburgglobal.org/go/mediaacademy2017. You can also follow all the discussions on Twitter and Instagram by following the hashtag #SGSmedia.