Covid-19 has taken over our lives, but it hasn’t been around for very long. Scientists have been studying it in real-time as the world collectively goes through a traumatic, world-changing event. It’s killed more than half a million people—and we don’t even know exactly where it came from. Which, on […] Read more »
A Study Said Covid Wasn’t That Deadly. The Right Seized It.
… Preprints are meant to help scientists find and discuss new findings in real time, which is especially important during a pandemic. They generally carry a warning label: “This research has yet to be peer reviewed.” To a scientist, this means it’s provisional knowledge — maybe true, maybe not. But […] Read more »
Review: ‘After Truth,’ the Deluge
It is a fitting irony that the term “fake news” has become itself fraudulent, appropriated, by Donald Trump and his imitators, to dismiss legitimate reporting that they deem damaging, disrespectful or insufficiently flattering. But before there was this fake news, there was real fake news, an ecosystem of rumors, conspiracy […] Read more »
New polls show effect of right-wing media’s dismissive and conspiratorial coronavirus coverage
Two polls released this week show the troubling effects that weeks of dismissive and conspiratorial coverage of the novel coronavirus from Fox News and other right-wing media outlets and personalities had on the American public. CONT. Oliver Darcy, CNN Business Read more »
Techlash? America’s Growing Concern With Major Technology Companies
Just a few years ago, Americans were overwhelmingly optimistic about the power of new technologies to foster an informed and engaged society. More recently, however, that confidence has been challenged by emerging concerns over the role that internet and technology companies — especially social media — now play in our […] Read more »
How the media turned a ‘suspect’ survey into Trump fodder
ON THE OFF CHANCE that you weren’t watching President Trump address the American Farm Bureau Federation’s convention in January, here’s what he told the appreciative crowd: “A poll just came out — Wall Street Journal. It just came out. Look at this: ‘Farmer Approval of Trump Hits Record, Poll Shows… […] Read more »