Maxwell School News and Commentary
Filtered by: Media & Journalism
Thorson quoted in Scientific American article on fake news, elections
A single piece of information rarely changes anyone’s opinion, "whether it’s true-or false," says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, "That’s a good thing." The idea that a handful of unreliable outlets were going to substantially alter views or behaviors "is pretty far-fetched, given what we know about the stability of people’s political attitudes," she adds.
See related: Media & Journalism, U.S. Elections, United States
Thorson quoted in CT Mirror article on Connecticut's tax myth
“Misconceptions about a particular policy, these are pretty common,” says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, about falsehoods about policies for an article for the CT Mirror.
See related: Media & Journalism, Political Parties, State & Local, Taxation, United States
Sernett quoted in Slate article on new Harriet Tubman movie
See related: Media & Journalism, United States
Banks speaks to CNN about Trump's comments about Rep. Adam Schiff
"Rep. [Adam] Schiff is protected by the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution from being questioned 'in any other place,'" said William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "The protection clearly extends to the offending Tweets."
See related: Congress, Federal, Media & Journalism, United States
Thompson speaks with ABC radio about presidential racial rhetoric
In the wake of President Trump's recent tweets about four Democratic congresswomen of color, Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science, assesses that coded racial language began to be used as a political strategy under President Richard Nixon.
See related: Federal, Media & Journalism, Race & Ethnicity, United States
Thorson discusses belief echoes on WCNY's Capitol Pressroom
"Corrections of misinformation are constantly being amplified," says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science. People are trying to do something good by correcting the misinformation but in the process they're "pushing it out to more people and potentially causing more belief echoes to arise."
See related: Media & Journalism, United States
Research by Emily Thorson cited in Forbes article on misinformation
Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, defines "belief echoes" as "effects on attitudes that persist even when you know that a piece of information is false."
See related: Media & Journalism, United States
Thorson weighs in on study of uncivil online discourse in The Atlantic
"I’d argue that much of the dysfunction we see in online interactions is just a symptom of much larger and older social problems, including but not limited to racism and misogyny," says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science.
See related: Media & Journalism, United States
Thorson discusses how partisanship affects belief of facts with PBS
According to Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, negative misinformation about a politician of an opposing party is hard to shake, even after people learn that the original story was false.
See related: Media & Journalism, Political Parties, United States
Journalism and Ideals of Democracy
See related: Civil Rights, Government, Media & Journalism, Political Parties