Uncategorized
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New at CJR: When factcheckers get trigger-happy
My new column at CJR looks at how factcheckers sometimes fail to select their targets and define their standards appropriately. Here’s how it begins: Is there such a thing as too much factchecking? Factcheck.org described former President Bill Clinton’s speech to the Democratic convention Wednesday evening as a “fact-checker’s nightmare” in part because, “with few
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New at CJR: The fact-checking crisis of confidence
My new column at CJR argues that the persistence of false claims in the presidential campaign doesn’t mean that the fact-checkers have failed. Here’s how it begins: Can the media stop politicians from misleading the public? That’s the question on the minds of many journalists and commentators after Paul Ryan’s speech last night at the
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New at CJR: In defense of convention coverage
In my new column at CJR, I defend the value of convention coverage despite a lack of breaking news. Here’s how it begins: Every four years, the two presidential candidates do battle in a series of high-stakes televised events that could shape the outcome of the campaign. They also take part in some highly scripted
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New review article on Tim Groseclose’s Left Turn
I have a new review article in Perspectives on Politics critiquing Tim Groseclose’s book Left Turn that started as a blog post here way back in 2005 (gated; ungated). Here’s how it begins: In 2005, University of California-Los Angeles political scientist Tim Groseclose and University of Missouri economist Jeff Milyo published a study in the
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New at CJR: Media failures in Reid/Romney coverage
I have a new column at CJR on journalistic and fact-checking failures in coverage of Harry Reid’s unsubstantiated claim that Mitt Romney has paid no taxes for ten years. Here’s how it begins: A week ago, The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein and Ryan Grim published an article repeating Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s claim that
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New at CJR: The Gore-ing of Mitt Romney
My new column at CJR examines how media hostility to Mitt Romney is helping to fuel the gaffe frenzies that frequently dominate coverage of his campaign and proposes a better approach to covering the horse race. Here’s how it begins: The profane confrontation between one of Mitt Romney’s press aides and reporters at the end
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New surveys show the persistence of misperceptions
Three new surveys illustrate just how persistent political misperceptions can be. My research with Jason Reifler suggests that corrective information frequently fails to reduce beliefs in false or unsupported claims – a response that may be rooted in the threatening nature of unwelcome facts. While there are ways to present information more effectively, the extensive
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New at CJR: The press botches the tax debate—again
I have a new column up at CJR on the media’s continued failure to accurately describe the competing tax proposals from the two parties. Here’s how it begins: Yesterday, the Senate held symbolic votes on a pair of high-profile tax bills with important implications for the November election. Senators narrowly rejected a Republican-backed extension of
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My “Truthiness” conference talk on misinformation
For those who are interested, video is now available of a short presentation I gave at a conference on “Truthiness in Digital Media” at Harvard’s Berkman Center in March:
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New at CJR: Fact-checkers can’t resolve Bain issues
I have a new column up at CJR on how fact-checkers can’t resolve the controversy over Mitt Romney’s involvement at Bain Capital during the 1999-2002 period. Here’s how it begins: Fact-checkers have played a key role in the controversy over Mitt Romney’s role in outsourcing at Bain Capital, but the way the debate has played