MediaWell collects and synthesizes research on how to mitigate the influence of false, misleading, or hateful narratives online, build resilient democratic institutions, and empower communities to inform themselves. MediaWell seeks to present research for broader public understanding and foster collaborations to build a public interest internet. We were founded in 2019; our launch event is here.
For a deeper dive into a particular topic, go to that research topic’s landing page. Each landing page can be accessed from the Research Topics drop-down menu. At the False Narratives and their Contexts topic page, for example, you’ll find research reviews, associated articles, and a variety of other types of content. Our taxonomy for our research topics and tags is here.
In all, MediaWell contains six kinds of content:
- Research Reviews are original articles that summarize the latest research and ongoing debates within a particular research topic.
- Articles are essays written for MediaWell by researchers. They offer high-level analysis and make recommendations for policy changes and new research directions.
- News content is aggregated from around the web. In addition to news articles, we aggregate reports, whitepapers, and other non-scholarly content.
- Scholars Database entries contain information about researchers and their active projects.
- Events in our calendar are sortable by month, and searchable by keyword.
- Our Citations Library, which is powered by Zotero, contains academic articles, reports, and some journalistic articles sorted into one or more research topics.
MediaWell does not accept unsolicited contributions. For all other inquiries, email mediawell@ssrc.org, or contact us on Mastodon at SSRC_mtp@sciences.social and Twitter @SSRC_mtp.
Staff
Molly Laas, Program Director, Media & Democracy
Sofina Tanni, Program Assistant, Media & Democracy
Former Staff
Adriana DiSilvestro was the first program assistant for MediaWell. She served a vital role in its development, and curated the majority of its initial content. She left the Council in 2020 to pursue a PhD in human geography.
Jason Rhody was the director MediaWell, along with the Digital Culture program, Social Data Initiative, and Media & Democracy program at the Social Science Research Council. He left the Council in 2022 to take a senior leadership role at the Modern Language Association.
Sam Spies was the first program officer and managing editor for MediaWell from 2018-2021. His key contributions to MediaWell included writing several original live research reviews and bridging MediaWell’s work to academic and practitioner communities.
Kris-Stella Trump served as the first program director for MediaWell, and was instrumental in its conception and development. She left the Council in 2019 to take a tenure-track position in political science.
Catherine Weddig was a program associate for the Disinformation Research Mapping initiative and the Media & Democracy program. She graduated with honors from Rhodes College in 2018 with a BA in history.
Acknowledgments
A number of individuals have contributed their time and expertise to MediaWell. They include: Julia Angwin, Lance Bennett, Cody Buntain, Ellen P. Goodman, Jennifer Kavanagh, Karen Kornbluh, Diego Martin, Michael Miller, Amy Mitchell, Anna Neatrour, Brendan Nyhan, Sarah Oates, Adrienne Russell, Connie Moon Sehat, Jacob N. Shapiro, and Lauren Weinzimmer.
Design and Development
MediaWell was designed by Sonja Leix and developed by Boone Gorges.
Technology
MediaWell is powered by Research AMP, in addition to WordPress, Zotero and PressForward. We are grateful to these organizations and their funders for making these products freely accessible.
About the Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is an independent, international nonprofit organization that mobilizes necessary knowledge for the public good by supporting scholars worldwide, generating new research across disciplines, and linking researchers with policymakers and citizens.