Uncategorized
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New at CJR: Covering Boehner’s struggles
My new column at CJR reviews coverage of John Boehner’s re-election as Speaker of the House. Like much recent coverage of his leadership, these articles often provided little explanatory context for why he has struggled to exercise control over his caucus. Here’s how it begins: On Thursday, John Boehner survived some conservative defections to narrowly
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New research on the effects of positive misinformation
For those who are interested, I have a new article in Political Psychology with Michael Cobb and Jason Reifler on the effects of discredited positive misinformation. Contrary to previous research, which finds that negative misinformation tends to have lasting effects on people’s evaluations of politicians even after it is shown to be false, we show
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New at CJR: Beware Green Lantern thinking on guns
My new column at CJR warns the media to avoid Green Lantern-style thinking in covering and commenting on President Obama’s response to the shootings in Newtown. Here’s how it begins: In a riff inspired by the blogger Matthew Yglesias a few years ago, I proposed what I called the Green Lantern theory of the presidency
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New at CJR: Addressing the asymmetry question
My new CJR column considers the argument that the pressure for partisan balance in factchecking made 2012 campaign coverage worse. Here’s how it begins: Factchecking made great strides during the 2012 campaign, but were those advances compromised by the pressure to maintain partisan balance? Two respected Washington think tank scholars say yes. Thomas Mann of
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New at CJR: The need for better “fiscal cliff” reporting
My new column at CJR contrasts the questionable value-add for horse race journalism with the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, where good insider reporting is desperately needed. Here’s how it begins: We’ve just finished an election in which quantitative analysis provided far more accurate predictions than pundits and reporters, who frequently offered claims and analysis that were
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New at CJR: The future of fact-checking after 2012
My new column at CJR considers the future of the fact-checking movement after the 2012 campaign. Here’s how it begins: As journalists close the books on 2012 and look forward to coverage of a second Obama administration, one important question is where the factchecking movement goes from here. The general election campaign was unquestionably the
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New at CJR: The dangers of hindsight bias
My new piece for CJR examines the media’s propensity for hindsight bias in post-election coverage, which typically shifts from pre-election uncertainty to portraying the outcome as inevitable. Here’s how it begins: The media has undergone a strange change of mindset. Immediately before last Tuesday’s election, many reporters and commentators ignored or dismissed the consensus among
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Interview on truth and misinformation in the campaign
I was interviewed today on WHYY Philadelphia’s “Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane” about “Facts, lies and the 2012 election” – summary and audio below for those who are interested: In a presidential election where each candidate accused the other of playing lose with the facts, in the end each campaign, to some degree, was guilty
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New at CJR: How to cover the presidential results
My new column at CJR cautions journalists against unsupported interpretations of how and why President Obama defeated Mitt Romney in yesterday’s presidential election. Here’s how it begins: One of the most fascinating parts of the aftermath of an election is the construction of post-hoc narratives to “explain” the results. There’s plenty of Web traffic to
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Knowledge does not guard against conspiracy theories
When the September jobs report showed that unemployment had dropped to an unexpectedly low 7.8%, former General Electric CEO Jack Welch helped launch a new conspiracy theory when he tweeted: “Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can’t debate so change numbers.” Even though the unemployment statistics are produced by the respected and politically insulated