Credibility and Trust
Policymakers, scientists, and journalists have worried for years about declining public trust in their institutions. Are new technologies like social media contributing to this decline, or are they convenient scapegoats for broader forces in society? We discuss research on how populist politics and other anti-elite, anti-institutional movements are intersecting with declining public trust and the rise of alternative epistemologies.
Live Research Review
Teaching & Learning
Explore course modules, handouts, teaching tools and syllabi about dis- and misinformation.
Latest News on Credibility and Trust
Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, spoke with CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday to explain the ultimate goal of President Donald Trump’s false accusations of a rigged and stolen election. Rauch was asked by Stelter if the issue is Trump is simply trapped in the delusion that he actually beat President-elect Joe […]
By Elizabeth Preza
Presidents have always complained about the press. At awards ceremonies and journalism-school conferences, Thomas Jefferson is often remembered for his principled support: in 1787, he wrote to the Virginia statesman Edward Carrington, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not […]
By David Remnick
Machine learning has delivered amazing results, but there also have been failures, ranging from the harmless to potentially deadly. New work suggests that common assumptions about the cause behind these supposed malfunctions may be mistaken, information that is crucial for evaluating the reliability of these networks. […] Source: Misinformation or artifact: A new way to […]
By University of Houston
Rapid disinformation attacks—i.e., attacks in which disinformation is unleashed quickly and broadly with the goal of creating an immediate disruptive effect—are one of the most significant challenges in the digital ecosystem. Consider the following hypothetical: On the morning of Election Day in a closely contested U.S. presidential election, supporters of one candidate launch a disinformation1 […]
By John Villasenor
Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing — and changing us. Back in 2008, Barack Obama famously harnessed the internet and social media to help win the White House. He kept up the embrace once he got there. Now he worries that the internet and social media have helped create “the single biggest […]
By Peter Kafka
Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, spoke with CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday to explain the ultimate goal of President Donald Trump’s false accusations of a rigged and stolen election. Rauch was asked by Stelter if the issue is Trump is simply trapped in the delusion that he actually beat President-elect Joe […]
By Elizabeth PrezaPresidents have always complained about the press. At awards ceremonies and journalism-school conferences, Thomas Jefferson is often remembered for his principled support: in 1787, he wrote to the Virginia statesman Edward Carrington, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not […]
By David RemnickMachine learning has delivered amazing results, but there also have been failures, ranging from the harmless to potentially deadly. New work suggests that common assumptions about the cause behind these supposed malfunctions may be mistaken, information that is crucial for evaluating the reliability of these networks. […] Source: Misinformation or artifact: A new way to […]
By University of HoustonRapid disinformation attacks—i.e., attacks in which disinformation is unleashed quickly and broadly with the goal of creating an immediate disruptive effect—are one of the most significant challenges in the digital ecosystem. Consider the following hypothetical: On the morning of Election Day in a closely contested U.S. presidential election, supporters of one candidate launch a disinformation1 […]
By John VillasenorUncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing — and changing us. Back in 2008, Barack Obama famously harnessed the internet and social media to help win the White House. He kept up the embrace once he got there. Now he worries that the internet and social media have helped create “the single biggest […]
By Peter Kafka