In Reality New Thinking

To figure out what’s true and what’s not in today’s chaotic, fragmented, contradictory information environment, all of us news consumers have to think like journalists: is that story I’m seeing backed by evidence, is the headline fair, is the coverage biased? Well, we could do worse than to think like the journalist who is today’s guest.

Until his retirement in February 2021, Martin Baron was the editor of the Washington
Post, following remarkable stints leading the Boston Globe and Miami Herald. Altogether, teams under his editorship amassed more than two dozen Pulitzer prizes, including one story at the Globe that became the subject of an Oscar-winning movie, Spotlight. 

Marty and I will talk about that and other stories; we’ll focus on what it was like covering the Trump administration, what the ownership of Jeff Bezos meant to the Washington Post’s coverage, and how high-stake decisions are made in the newsroom of a national daily in this highly charged era. 

The first voice you’ll hear is that of Seth Green, the Dean of the University of Chicago’s Graham School, who will offer me a chance to introduce the Alliance for Trust in Media.


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For decades, America’s foreign adversaries have used disinformation to undermine American democracy, to sow division and create confusion about what is even true. But who needs foreign adversaries when so many Americans, for whatever reason, have embraced the same tactics and same apparent goal? Today’s guest, Barbara McQuade, is a professor at University of Michigan Law School who previously served as vice chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and co-chaired its Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee.

In her new book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, she makes it clear that then same kind of disinformation campaigns she saw originating in Russia or Iran are now homegrown. Barb and Eric talk about why Americans are particularly susceptible to disinformation; about the authoritarian playbook that leaders like Hungary’s Victor Orban or Donald Trump employ to seize power by ostensibly democratic means; about the right wing’s embrace of violent rhetoric and the dangers of stochastic terrorism; and the importance of media literacy in a chaotic information environment.

This is not perhaps the most optimistic episode to air on In Reality, but stay with us. This needs to be heard.

Topics


The Murthy v. Missouri CaseImplications of a Decision in Murthy v. MissouriGovernment Communication with Social Media PlatformsChilling Effect on Government InterventionTrump's Allies and the War on DisinformationThe Decline in Trust in MediaThe Authoritarian PlaybookMuzzling the PressMedia Literacy and Critical ThinkingChanges in Media PracticesThe Importance of Media Literacy TrainingBringing Media Literacy Training to AdultsWhy Americans are Susceptible to DisinformationStochastic TerrorismThe Risk of AuthoritarianismThe Risks of Artificial IntelligenceAmending Section 230Demand Side Solutions: Media Literacy and Civics EducationOptimism for the FutureWebsite
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It was eight years ago, when Brexit and the US Presidential election showed how misinformation enables real-world damage. Since then, researchers, content managers, regulators, journalists and others sprang into action to counter misinformation and now misinformation pollutions is even worse. Why?

Claire Wardle has some ideas. She’s been in the fight since the beginning. In 2015, she was the founder of the pioneering research and training organization, First Draft News. She’s led teams on misinformation and verification at the BBC, Columbia Journalism School, and the UN among others. She’s now the co-founder of the Information Futures Lab at Brown University.

Claire and Eric discuss the backlash against content moderation; the perverse incentives that work against collaboration against misinformation; the role of journalists in rising mistrust of media; artificial intelligence and falsehood; and everyone’s personal responsibility for standing up for truth.

Topics
Introduction and BackgroundThe Role of Information in Public HealthEncouraging Collaboration and Cross-Disciplinary WorkCommunity-Centered Approach to Addressing MisinformationThe Role of Media in Information PollutionJournalism's Responsibility and Trust DeclineMisinformation in Officialdom: Florida Surgeon GeneralUndermining of Expertise and Trust in ScienceIndividual Responsibility and Media LiteracyThe Need for Regulation and OversightThe Challenges of AI and Content ModerationThe Role of Courts in Addressing Social Media HarmsHope for Regulation and OversightThe Importance of Curating Newsfeeds and Avoiding Information Bubble
Producer: Tom Platts
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Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and the media with Eric Schurenberg, a long time journalist and media executive, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.

There are two ways to fight misinformation: One is to debunk falsehoods after they have surfaced. The other is to help create media literate news audiences, who can recognize false claims before they take root. Debunking, necessary though it is, inevitably hands the initiative to manipulators and propagandists. Media literacy, on the other hand, helps news consumers debunk their own news feed. It simply scales better.

Today’s guest has spent the past decade and a half engaged in the media literacy cause. A former educator, Peter Adams is the research director of the News Literacy Project, a 15-year-old non-profit that trains middle-school and high-school teachers to impart the media literacy and critical thinking skills their students need to navigate today’s incredibly challenging information ecosystem. Peter and Eric discuss the penetration of news literacy training in school systems, how to deal with bias in news sources, the impact of collapsing media business models on the news environment, and the responsibility of news consumers to curate their own media diet.
 

Topics

Origin Story of the News Literacy Project

Role of the Research and Design Team

Penetration of NLP's Curriculum in School Systems

Definition of News Literacy and Its Components

Evaluation of Non-Traditional Sources of News

Understanding Bias in News Coverage

Challenges Faced by Mainstream Media

Political Bias in News Coverage

Impact of Changing Business Models on News Coverage

Addressing Partisan Bias in News Literacy Education

Responsibility of News Consumers in Curating a Healthy News Diet

Discovering News Outside of Filter Bubbles

Peter Adams' News Sources

Overview of NLP's Products and Resources


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Journalism’s problems today are legion: Collapsing business models, attacks from political partisans, divisions in the profession over basic questions like objectivity. But none of these is solvable until newsrooms address their troubled relationship with audiences: Too many people don’t believe journalists work in their interest. Many avoid news because they find it too pugilistic, too downbeat.

Today’s guest has spent the past decade and more addressing the all too real negativity bias in the news. He’s David Bornstein, co-founder with Tina Rosenberg of the Solutions Journalism network. Solutions Journalism diverts the news media’s relentless focus on conflict and turns a clear-eyed spotlight on people attempting to solve problems.

David and Eric discuss the difference between solutions journalism and local-hero feel-good reporting; we cover the generational change drawing young journalists away from news organizations and into personal branding; our profession’s addiction to covering politics like a horse race; and the role of solutions journalism in restoring trust in professional media.

Produced by Tom Platts
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Website
www.in-reality.fm

Produced by Sound Sapien
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Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and the media hosted by Eric Schurenberg, a long-time journalist and media executive, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.

A lot of people, Eric included, are working to figure out what exactly happened to facts, trust in institutions like science and the news, and to the shared reality we used to enjoy in this country. There is no shortage of research about the depth of the problem but very little about what really might reverse it. Which is where today’s guest comes in.

Talia Stroud is the director of the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas. More than 10 years ago, she was one of the first to document how Americans were retreating to news that confirmed their pre-existing beliefs—now well known as the filter bubble phenomenon—and she has since gone on to bust popular myths about social media and to research practical actions that journalists can take to re-engage with audiences. Talia and I talk about recent medical misinformation emanating from, of all people, the surgeon general of Florida; about how newsrooms inadvertently feed polarization; about bringing audiences and newsrooms closer together; and why a popular silver bullet solution to algorithmic polarization won’t work.

Please reach out to let Eric know your thoughts on the episode at eric@alliancefortrust.com


Topics

02:00
The Impact of Media on Democracy

03:11
The Challenge of Media Polarization

05:30
The Influence of Social Media Algorithms

08:28
Research Collaboration with Meta

11:29
The Effectiveness of Algorithm Changes

15:16
Promoting Civil Conversations on Social Media

19:16
The Role of Professional Journalism

24:41
The Business Model of News Organizations

29:55
Rebuilding Trust in Journalism

34:36
Understanding Election Misinformation


This episode was produced by Sound Sapien
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Website
www.in-reality.fm

Produced by Sound Sapien
soundsapien.com