How the Biden Administration Can Help Solve Our Reality Crisis

… Hoaxes, lies and collective delusions aren’t new, but the extent to which millions of Americans have embraced them may be. Thirty percent of Republicans have a favorable view of QAnon, according to a recent YouGov poll. According to other polls, more than 70 percent of Republicans believe Mr. Trump […] Read more »

Restoring Confidence in American Institutions

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, was honored with the 2021 Franklin Founder Award during a virtual celebration of Benjamin Franklin’s 315th birthday. … In her acceptance speech, Jamieson spoke about the resilience […] Read more »

‘Demographic eclipse’ explains this era’s political chaos

Brian Stelter asks Ron Brownstein about how to process the years of history that have happened in just a few short weeks. Brownstein, the CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic, says the “big structural factor driving the politics of our era” is demographic eclipse. America is […] Read more »

Medill Survey Shows Most News Industry Workers Believe Polls are Overused and Unreliable

People working in U.S. media believe 2020 presidential election coverage was generally fair, but they also think polling was overplayed and unreliable, according to the first-ever Medill Media Industry Survey at Northwestern University. The survey of nearly 1,400 members of the U.S. news media was conducted by Associate Professor Stephanie […] Read more »

Trump approval remains stable, with Republicans unmoved after Capitol violence

Donald Trump is the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice — this time for his role in inciting a deadly assault on the Capitol by his supporters — but he is still poised to leave office with a job approval rating that is fairly typical of his […] Read more »

2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Reveals a Rampant Infodemic is Fueling Widespread Mistrust of Societal Leaders

The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that people don’t know where or who to turn to for reliable information. A majority of respondents believe that government leaders (57 percent), business leaders (56 percent), and journalists (59 percent) are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false. […] Read more »