What happens to a democracy when people stop talking to one another about what matters to them and the country? When people are afraid to speak their minds because they fear the personal blowback likely to come their way? Or worse, when they come to believe that their concerns, their […] Read more »
Epstein Suicide Conspiracies Show How Our Information System Is Poisoned
Even on an internet bursting at the seams with conspiracy theories and hyperpartisanship, Saturday marked a new chapter in our post-truth, “choose your own reality” crisis story. It began early Saturday morning, when news broke that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein had apparently hanged himself in a Manhattan jail. … Mr. […] Read more »
How the Trump Campaign Used Facebook Ads to Amplify His ‘Invasion’ Claim
President Trump’s re-election campaign has harnessed Facebook advertising to push the idea of an “invasion” at the southern border, amplifying the fear-inducing language about immigrants that he has also voiced at campaign rallies and on Twitter. Since January, Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign has posted more than 2,000 ads on Facebook […] Read more »
El Paso shooter wasn’t a ‘lone wolf’ — and his so-called online ‘manifesto’ proves why
It’s mourning again in America. Many of us went to sleep on Saturday night grieving the news of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, motivated by racism. We woke up Sunday morning to another mass murder in Dayton, Ohio, this one with even less of a motive. Journalists are […] Read more »
How social media increases the reach of Trump’s racially coded attacks to activate racial prejudice
… Despite the popular conversation about whether President’s Trump’s comments are racist, in recent research, I along with co-author (Adam Enders), maintain that a statement or policy need not make explicit mention of race to be racist. In fact, it is the use of racially coded language, like “go back […] Read more »
Fox News Poll: Trump approval up, voter ratings on economy best in decades
More voters rate the economy positively today than have since 2001, according to the latest Fox News Poll. In addition, approval of the job President Trump is doing on the economy stands at 52 percent (41 percent disapprove). … He receives net negative marks on border security (44 approve – […] Read more »