The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change

Thirty years ago, a bold plan was cooked up to spread doubt and persuade the public that climate change was not a problem. The little-known meeting – between some of America’s biggest industrial players and a PR genius – forged a devastatingly successful strategy that endured for years, and the […] Read more »

The role party affiliation played in getting US to grim new milestone of 1 million COVID deaths

The American flag flies at half-staff at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 14, 2022, after President Biden ordered flags lowered to commemorate 1 million American dead due to COVID-19. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais Monika L. McDermott, Fordham University and David R. Jones, Baruch College, CUNY COVID-19 has now […] Read more »

Americans’ Trust in Scientists, Other Groups Declines

Americans’ confidence in groups and institutions has turned downward compared with just a year ago. Trust in scientists and medical scientists, once seemingly buoyed by their central role in addressing the coronavirus outbreak, is now below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, 29% of U.S. adults say they have a great deal of […] Read more »

Increasing Public Criticism, Confusion Over COVID-19 Response in U.S.

Nearly two years after the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the United States, Americans are increasingly critical of the response to COVID-19 from elected officeholders and public health officials. Amid debates over how to address the surge in cases driven by the omicron variant, confusion is now the most common […] Read more »

Amidst the Pandemic, Confidence in the Scientific Community Becomes Increasingly Polarized

Political divisions on confidence in the scientific and medical communities have widened, according to an analysis of the 2021 General Social Survey (GSS) by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey, conducted a year into the pandemic, finds confidence in the scientific community has increased among Democrats […] Read more »