… Partisan polarization is now so extreme in the United States that it affects the way that people consume and understand information — the facts they believe, and what events they think are important. … Mr. Trump, perhaps unconsciously, has grasped a core truth of modern politics: that voters tend to […] Read more »
Red in the face?
Truth be told, President Trump, his administration and his supporters have a good deal to be embarrassed about of late. Yet, not a trace of that emotion is ever apparent from him, his spokespeople or his acolytes. And that ought to be deeply troubling. … Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner maintains […] Read more »
‘Who shared it?’: How Americans decide what news to trust on social media
When Americans encounter news on social media, how much they trust the content is determined less by who creates the news than by who shares it, according to a new experimental study from the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for […] Read more »
Trump’s Method, Our Madness
… Much has been written about “post-truth” politics in the context of the recent presidential election, and rightly so, as Trump’s relationship with the truth is not the same old conservative legerdemain. But in an important sense, anti-fact campaigns, such as the effort led by archconservatives like the Koch brothers to […] Read more »
NationTracker poll: Who’s confident … and who’s nervous?
Here’s something Americans agree on: they think President Trump is trying to do a lot – though it’s too much for some. Whether they like it all is a different matter, of course. And a lot of activity has meant there are a lot of things for supporters to cheer…and […] Read more »
This Article Won’t Change Your Mind: The facts on why facts alone can’t fight false beliefs
… You can just switch off the radio, change channels, only like the Facebook pages that give you the kind of news you prefer. You can construct a pillow fort of the information that’s comfortable. Most people aren’t totally ensconced in a cushiony cave, though. They build windows in the […] Read more »