election 2024

Making sense of our current moment

At some point this week a thought occurred to me: The U.S. 2024 election is kind of like Brexit. I'm referring of course to the 2016 referendum in which residents of the United Kingdom, by a 4 percent margin, voted in favor of leaving the European Union.

election 2024

Preparing for tomorrow

If anything positive has emerged from this high-octane campaign season, it's that many Americans are more aware of viral falsehoods related to natural disasters, complex issues like immigration and election processes than they were before. Just today, the Texas Tribune reported on recurring rumors that show up each

election 2024

The campaign we should be watching

The political conventions are always followed by an intense period of analysis and speculation and this year is no exception. With coverage hyper-focused on one race, we can lose sight of other important news – like down-ballot contests, or continued partisan efforts to undermine electoral processes in states like Georgia. Last

conspiracies

Conspiracies and partisan takes abound. Here are seven tips for finding the facts

The information ecosystem is churning in the aftermath of yesterday's assassination attempt against former President Trump in Butler, PA. Comments that the shooting was "staged" by the Trump campaign or a "false flag" event have been trending on X/Twitter. Hot takes from members

debate

Outlets are fact-checking the debate. Here's how we can help.

Of the many fact-checks that circulated this morning, CNN reporter Daniel Dale's is one of the more efficient. In a 4:13 video he fact-checks the entire debate – President Biden's statements first (at least nine falsehoods, per Dale) then former President Trump's (over 30

Congressional hearings

Institutions are under fire and instability, the apparent goal

Governing bodies have long been targets of chaos actors. From the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to claiming that Feds orchestrated the pandemic, attackers are able to sidestep the protections they enjoy from the government (the military, justice system, regulations etc.) to challenge those in power. Today we&

A hopeful story of crossing party lines in Iowa

We were waiting to make the drive from Des Moines to Sioux City to start RAGBRAI, the seven-day bike ride across Iowa that I completed last July, when I met Prakash Kopparapu. His 16-year-old daughter Sami was about to board a bus to do the same ride with the Des

year in review

Words and stories of the year - and how the "recency effect" drove one of them

Dictionary websites have released their annual Words of the Year, and the selections say a lot about today's information ecosystem. Merriam-Webster's pick is authentic. From their November 27 blog post about people searching for the term: "A high-volume lookup most years, authentic saw a substantial

civil discourse Featured

Talking around the table: 2023 edition

Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving celebrations are perfect opportunities to share joys and concerns with people you love. You may not want to address this particular issue; it may feel uncomfortable. I get it. And still, I think you should.

In the Hamas-Israel information war, a prime target is us

You've likely seen that disinformation about the Israel-Hamas conflict is polluting feeds around the world. Some examples: * Images from other conflicts are being repurposed by disinformation purveyors as images from the Israel-Hamas war. The New York Times piece from November 2 quotes a photographer whose coverage of the

corruption

Voters say no to corruption in Guatemala

This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org. On August 20, Guatemalans voted an upset candidate into office. Bernardo

disinformation

How falsehoods can put freedom at risk

This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org. A notable aspect of the Georgia indictment coverage is how many

New test finds young people susceptible to misinformation + thoughts on Meta's Threads

Psychologists at the University of Cambridge developed a two-minute test to assess people's ability to identify fake news headlines. Working with data and public opinion organization YouGov, they got 8,000 participants to take it over a two-year period. Their findings refute conventional wisdom: In the 18 to

Misinformation techniques: No longer just for the fringe

The other day, a friend shared this opinion piece with me. It took me about 10 seconds to realize that it included an apparent reference to a deep fake, and another 10 to find additional misleading content. And I'm not a professional fact-checker. The author was a Stanford

Misinformation at work

Amid the almost daily upsets in cable news and politics, last Friday Truth in Common sponsored a virtual event called Misinformation & the Workplace: Mitigating the Risks. Part of National Week of Conversation, the panel, moderated by yours truly, featured some great speakers: * Dave Fleet, head of global digital

social media

March roundup: Chatbots and our dystopian future

Humane Tech warns of AI's risks to humanity; platforms embed fast-growing ChatGPT; TikTok struggles with data privacy concerns; upcoming Truth in Common events

Deep fake examples, targeting and the Other Twitter Files

Plus some good news/bad news from the TIC Community Welcome to new followers! It was great to meet some of you at the International Association of Business Communicators DC session on Tuesday, where I shared the evidence base for adopting a more relational, social change approach for curbing mis-

critical race theory

The latest critical race theory drama comes to us from Florida

If you're skeptical that the furor over critical race theory has had any real impact on students, look no further than Orlando. On January 3, ProPublica brought us the story of Jonathan Cox, an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida

Social media upheaval: A roundup

For followers of big tech, there have been no shortage of jaw-dropping moments over the past few weeks. Twitter Whether you're on Twitter or checked today's headlines, you're likely aware that Twitter's leadership has begun suspending journalists at major outlets. How the

Talking around the table

In two days, my husband's cousins, our parents, siblings and most of the kids are descending on my house. (We'll miss you, Julia, Ian and Kyle!) We'll be 22 people altogether, so we're gathering here for appetizers then walking to a nearby

disinformation Featured

The propaganda trick that sparked a movement

Thanks to redistricting, all 15 seats on the Texas State Board of Education are up for re-election in the upcoming midterms. Thirty-three candidates are vying for the seats, and as you'd guess, critical race theory comes up frequently in their campaigns. Critical race theory is not, and never

California

A state takes the lead in protecting U.S. kids online

A new California code requires social media platforms to proactively mitigate risks to young people when designing solutions, rather than leaving users to figure it out on their own.

disinformation

Modern parameters for a conversation

I recently began conversing with someone from my past whose politics are different from mine, via text. We'd reconnected recently and have been going back and forth on things benign, and also less so: like the insurrection and whether the election was stolen. We disagree but this person

Welcome. This newsletter is for

folks who are curious at heart, tired of the drama in our spaces and maybe a little confused by our fast-changing society. Which is understandable – for one thing, it can be hard to know what's true and what's not today. To me that's a