Inside Critical Race Theory: Shedding Light on a Hot Topic
The “debate” over critical race theory – really, more often a shouting match – shows no sign of ending soon. As the New York Times noted in this thorough primer, the decades-old theory based on extensive scholarship continues making “national and international headlines and is a target for talking heads. Culture wars over critical race theory have turned school […]
It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.
From Renee DiResta, writing in The Atlantic… One Sunday morning in July of last year, a message from an anonymous account appeared on “Bernie or Vest,” a Discord chat server for fans of Senator Bernie Sanders. It contained an image of Shahid Buttar, the San Francisco activist challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the 2020 congressional runoff, and […]
Troll Farms Reached 140 Million Americans a Month on Facebook Before 2020 Election, Internal Report Shows
From Karen Hao, writing in MIT Technology Review… In the run-up to the 2020 election, the most highly contested in US history, Facebook’s most popular pages for Christian and Black American content were being run by Eastern European troll farms. These pages were part of a larger network that collectively reached nearly half of all […]
How ‘Engagement’ Makes You Vulnerable to Manipulation and Misinformation on Social Media
Filippo Menczer, Luddy Distinguished Professor of Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University, writes… Facebook has been quietly experimenting with reducing the amount of political content it puts in users’ news feeds. The move is a tacit acknowledgment that the way the company’s algorithms work can be a problem. The heart of the matter is the distinction between […]
Critical Race Theory and the Push to Keep it Out of US Public Schools
By Denise-Marie Ordway, writing for The Journalist’s Resource… Two experts offer insights to help journalists – and non-journalists – make sense of the recent controversy around critical race theory, a decades-old legal framework for examining how U.S. laws and systems have perpetuated racism. Republican lawmakers and elected leaders across the U.S. have spoken out in […]
UFOs, Once Consigned to Conspiracy Theories, Have Landed in Mainstream American Journalism
From Amaris Castillo, writing for Poynter… Last Friday, U.S. intelligence agencies released a report that many were eagerly awaiting: a preliminary assessment on unidentified aerial phenomena. In layman’s terms, UFOs. The unclassified report said these phenomena clearly pose a flight safety issue but that there aren’t enough high-quality reports on them to draw any firm conclusions. Sightings […]
7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crisis Communications Firm
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Crisis communications is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communications is aimed at raising awareness of a specific type of threat, the magnitude, outcomes, and specific behaviors to adopt to reduce the threat. […]
What Makes a News Story Trustworthy? Americans Point to the Outlet that Publishes It, Sources Cited
By John Gramlich, writing for the Pew Research Center… Americans see a variety of factors as important when it comes to deciding whether a news story is trustworthy or not, but their attitudes vary by party affiliation, demographic characteristics and news consumption habits, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Overall, broad majorities of U.S. […]
To Navigate the Dangers of the Web, You Need Critical Thinking – But Also Critical Ignoring
Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education and History at Stanford University, writing for The Conversation… The web is a treacherous place. A website’s author may not be its author. References that confer legitimacy may have little to do with the claims they anchor. Signals of credibility like a dot-org domain can be the artful handiwork of a Washington, […]
Misinformation, Disinformation and Hoaxes: What’s the Difference?
From Michael J. O’Brien and Izzat Alsmadi, writing for The Conversation… Sorting through the vast amount of information created and shared online is challenging, even for the experts. Just talking about this ever-shifting landscape is confusing, with terms like “misinformation,” “disinformation” and “hoax” getting mixed up with buzzwords like “fake news.” Misinformation is perhaps the […]