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Two-thirds of news influencers are men — and most have never worked for a news organization
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Articles by Mike Caulfield

Mike Caulfield heads the Digital Polarization Initiative at the American Democracy Project.
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A guide for journalists and news organizations assessing voting- and election-related rumors in the weeks leading up to the 2022 midterms.
“In the mind of the public, disinformation is a series of endlessly creative and unpredictable attacks by unknown actors. In reality, much of what flies around is pretty predictable.”
Sometimes it’s the sort of basic Internet skill you might take for granted — like knowing how to search a web page — that can stop someone from sharing fake news.
“At least one platform will engage with its most influential users, giving them access to special tools and training to identify and contextualize sources and claims in their feeds.”
“In reality, many forms of both radicalization and infiltration would be more difficult with a media literate audience — particularly if those with the most influence had better skills and habits around assessing reputation and intent.”
“An awful lot of highly educated folks, skilled in all sorts of traditional media literacy, are hopelessly lost on the web. (Many of these people are faculty).”