Our weekly roundup of news found at the intersection of media, politics, policy and technology, from the Shorenstein Center and from around the web.
This Week at the Shorenstein Center
Shorenstein Center Co-Sponsors “Defending Digital Democracy” Project to Fight Cyber Attacks and Protect Integrity of Elections. The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School launched a new, bipartisan initiative this week called the “Defending Digital Democracy” Project. Co-led by the former campaign managers for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney and experts from the national security and technology communities, including Facebook and Google, the project aims to identify and recommend strategies, tools, and technology to protect democratic processes and systems from cyber and information attacks. The project is co-sponsored by the Shorenstein Center and the Institute of Politics. Read more about this initiative in The Washington Post.
Which members of Congress get more media attention? From Journalist’s Resource.
News from our Fellows
History Lessons — Ted Kennedy, Watergate and the Bravest Senate Vote. Walter Shapiro, spring 2015 fellow, writes that each day the GOP healthcare bill is delayed “allows the opposition to mount and GOP second thoughts (‘Why again are we doing something this unpopular?’) to set in.”
Former BBC director Helen Boaden talks about news in the time of social media. Helen Boaden, spring 2017 fellow, discussed public trust in news, the need for new funding models, political bias, and other topics at a recent lecture.
The country needs help. Send lawyers, press, and bureaucrats. Renée Loth, fall 2011 fellow, writes that “three of our culture’s most maligned professions are now poised to be saviors of the republic,” and that “American institutions of justice, accountability, and professionalism are carrying on” during the Trump administration.
Gig economy got you broke and anxious? Save yourself with a skills audit. Farai Chideya, spring 2017 fellow, discusses her book, The Episodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption, and provides tips for managing a “seemingly scattered career.”
5(ish) Questions: Steve Oney and “A Man’s World” (both the song and his new book). Steve Oney, spring 2014 fellow, discusses “how ideas about masculinity have changed over his 40-year career, and how he eerily predicted the rise of Breitbart America.”
President Trump and the Press
- Dropping the Bluster, Trump Revives Banter With Reporters, from The New York Times.
- Trump’s off-the-record on-the-record toggle vexes reporters, from
- White House press group will keep fighting for on-camera briefings, from CNN.
- Watching ‘Fox & Friends,’ Trump Sees a Two-Way Mirror, from The New York Times.
- Trump Jr.’s emails should have killed the president’s ‘fake news’ rants. Here’s why they won’t. From The Washington Post.
- Top Republicans Aren’t Signing Up For Trump’s War With The Media, from BuzzFeed News.
Local News
- Local TV News Fact Sheet, from Pew Research Center.
- What happens to local news when there is no local media to cover it? From The Washington Post.
Social Media
- People who get news from social or search usually don’t remember the news org that published it, survey finds, from Nieman Lab.
- Newspapers’ Stand Against Tech Giants Won’t Save Them, from Slate.
- Behind the Velvet Ropes of Facebook’s Private Groups, from The New York Times.
- Facebook always wins: Data shows publishers are buying far more Facebook traffic, from Digiday.
Fake News
- Spreading fake news becomes standard practice for governments across the world, from The Washington Post.
- We aren’t very good at spotting fake photos, from Axios.
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