Social media has increasingly enabled “fake news” to circulate widely, most notably during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Although it likely did not change the outcome of the election, false news threatens the democratic goal of a well-informed electorate. To combat the harmful effects of this misinformation, Facebook began adding […] Read more »
Why So Many Trump Supporters Are OK With the President’s Lies
As of mid-February, the Washington Post’s fact-checking staff had tallied 8,718 false or misleading public statements by President Donald Trump since he assumed office. Yet his popularity, while low overall, remains very high among his base—a demographic dominated by evangelical Christians, who are taught lying is a sin. Why are […] Read more »
All the Best Polls Agree with Me: Bias in Evaluations of Political Polling
Public opinion polls play a central role in American politics–they dominate headlines, shape candidate messaging, and inform the electorate. Given the potential impact of polls on political decision making, it is important to understand how the public makes sense of polling results. On what basis does the public decide whether […] Read more »
How does the public think journalism happens?
For decades, we’ve known that Americans don’t trust the press. What we haven’t known is how people view the makings of journalism, from the use of fact checkers and anonymous sources to the question of whether money skews journalistic decision-making. This new national poll for CJR answers those questions, and […] Read more »
Many Conservatives Only Trust Government When Their Party Is in Power
… A recent study finds American liberals are more willing to grant legitimacy to a conservative-led government than vice-versa. Further, it finds this is not exclusively a Donald Trump-era phenomenon, and has been the case for the past 40-plus years. “These findings are in contradiction to the notion that liberals […] Read more »
Americans are more worried about bribery and pay-to-play than campaign finance violations
… The Special Counsel investigation and associated investigations into President Trump, his campaign, and his inner circle have grown so expansive, it can be hard for even the most keen observers to keep up. The latest Navigator finds the share of Americans who believe the investigation has “uncovered crimes” has […] Read more »