Month: April 2011
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CNN.com op-ed: Why conspiracy theories die hard
I have a new commentary on CNN.com about the release of President Obama’s birth certificate yesterday and why it’s a victory for misinformation. Here’s how it begins: Recent polls have found that as much as 15% to 20% of the public, including about 30% to 45% of Republicans, falsely believe that President Barack Obama was
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Twitter roundup
From my Twitter feed (4/20-4/25) Brendan Nyhan Apr 25, 2011 at 2:40 PM Powered by Keepstream BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Seven experts on “The Psychology of the ‘Birther’ Myth” at NYT’s “Room for Debate” http://j.mp/eB5Uk7 Barack Obama and the Psychology of the ‘Birther’ Myth – Room for Debate – NYTimes.com What does it say about the country
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Twitter roundup
From my Twitter feed (4/15-4/20) Brendan Nyhan Apr 20, 2011 at 2:25 PM Powered by Keepstream BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Really, First Read? “[M]ost amazing thing” 1 year after BP spill is lack of solution to US energy problems http://j.mp/hVMnDh Shocking! First Read – First Thoughts: Crisis control Obama’s presidency — so far — has been largely
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No evidence Obama deficit speech backfired
Yesterday, John Sides and I published an article cautioning journalists against overstating the importance of political events on public opinion (they rarely have a significant effect). Today — as if on cue — NBC’s First Read newsletter did just that, suggesting that President Obama’s approval ratings are down as a result of his deficit speech
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New Forum article on political science and journalism
I have an article in the new issue of The Forum with John Sides of George Washington University and The Monkey Cage about how reporters can use political science to inform and improve their reporting: How Political Science Can Help Journalism (and Still Let Journalists Be Journalists) Political scientists frequently lament the media’s neglect of
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Must-read Chris Mooney article on motivated reasoning
My friend Chris Mooney, a freelance science journalist, has just published a fantastic article in Mother Jones on “The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science”: [A]n array of new discoveries in psychology and neuroscience has … demonstrated how our preexisting beliefs, far more than any new facts, can skew our thoughts and even color
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Twitter roundup
Twitter roundup (4/13-4/15) Brendan Nyhan Apr 15, 2011 at 9:39 PM Powered by Keepstream BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @AdamSerwer: The Elite Anti-Birther backlash http://ampro.me/eMmWhS // See, e.g., Wehner in the WSJ yesterday: http://j.mp/haW2S9 The elite birther backlash – The Plum Line – The Washington Post Posted at 10:52 AM ET, 04/15/2011 As the 2012 presidential campaign
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Facebook reading option
Quick housekeeping note: If you want to keep up with this blog and don’t use Twitter or RSS, I’ve added a Like button to the right sidebar (under the About Me section) that you should allow you to get new posts in your Facebook news feed.
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Twitter roundup
From my Twitter feed (4/8-4/13) Brendan Nyhan Apr 13, 2011 at 1:32 PM Powered by Keepstream BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @blakehounshell: The lede here defies parody http://t.co/qj4yPaY Pray. Hope. Prepare. – NYTimes.com Where does the Arab world go from here? Apr 13, 2011 at 10:42 AM BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Context for GOP concern over current field RT
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Was the budget deal an overreaction to the election?
The wonkosphere has been debating why President Obama and the Democrats got such a seemingly bad deal in the budget negotiations last week. As several writers have noted, they were in a position of weakness due to their base’s preference for compromise. Still, it seems clear that Obama and the Democrats were outmaneuvered in the