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
Masha Gessen on Russia and Trump, Media Coverage, and Conspiracies. Masha Gessen, author and New York Times contributing opinion writer, shared her views on Presidents Trump and Putin, and words of caution for journalists covering the Trump administration’s alleged connections to Russia, during a visit to the Shorenstein Center. Read more and listen to audio.
News from Faculty, Fellows, and Students
One question that turns courageous journalists into cowards. Farai Chideya, current Joan Shorenstein Fellow, calls on news outlets to disclose their employment statistics in order to begin to meaningfully address the lack of diversity in newsrooms. She invites news organizations to contact her to assist with her Shorenstein Center research on the diversity of the political press corps.
How local news sounded the alarm over the GOP’s defeated health plan. Trudy Lieberman, spring 2001 fellow, writes that “the GOP’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act, which would have repealed most of the major provisions of Obamacare, reflects in no small measure the groundswell of opposition from local news outlets.”
Fake news is giving reality a run for its money. Jonathan Zittrain, George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School and Shorenstein Center faculty affiliate, discussed the challenges of combatting fake news and provided historical context at a recent panel discussion.
Public Diplomacy and the Post-Truth World. Rick Stengel, current Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow, discusses the limits of free speech, and how journalism must adapt to “alternative facts.”
Why Trump’s populist appeal is about culture, not the economy. Pippa Norris, Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, discusses her recent study on the growth of populist parties in Western countries.
For Smarter Debate and Better Policy, Let’s Scrap the ‘Killer Robots.’ HKS student Katherine Mansted writes about the problems with current debates about artificial intelligence, in the Kennedy School Review.
New Findings about Online Platforms and Journalism
- The Platform Press: How Silicon Valley reengineered journalism, from Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
- The Future of Free Speech, Trolls, Anonymity and Fake News Online, from Pew Research Center.
Conservative Media
- The Weekly Standard’s Arsenal to Fight Falsehoods: ‘Facts, Logic and Reason,’ from The New York Times.
- Conservative media struggles with new prominence under Trump, from The Hill.
- Breitbart Has Been Denied Permanent Congressional Press Passes — For Now, from BuzzFeed News.
- Brands Try to Blacklist Breitbart, but Ads Slip Through Anyway, from The New York Times.
FCC
- Trump’s FCC continues to redefine the public interest as business interests, from The Conversation.
- FCC Said to Move Toward Easing Rule That Discourages TV Deals, from Bloomberg Politics.
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