Dr. Joan Donovan, Shorenstein Center expert, comments on El Paso, 8chan, and what’s next

In the News, News, Public Interest Journalism / By

Dr. Joan Donovan, Research Director, responds to El Paso shooting, use of manifestos as a tactic, and explains how extremists manipulate the media to control public conversation Cambridge, MA – Dr. Joan Donovan is Director of the Technology and Social Change (TaSC) Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at […]

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A Landscape Study of Local News Models Across America

Discussion Papers, Local News, Media Business, News Business & Practice, Papers, Publications / By

Local journalism is in crisis, off and online. Years of downsizing in the face of digital disruption have weakened regional and local news organizations. But there are a few glimpses of hope in models for local news across the country. This landscape study includes over 40 mini case studies on outlets that are making the shift, starting fresh, or experimenting with new ways to survive and thrive.

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Small is Beautiful

Discussion Papers, Media Business, News Business & Practice, Papers, Publications / By

The decline of the legacy media started long before the Internet, but the Internet exposed a business model that relied too heavily on the wrong customers. This paper argues that subscription might be the only viable business model for digital media in the long run, but a small circulation might be large enough to make news outlets sustainable. Small is beautiful.

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map courtesy of Open Street Maps

Understanding Douma

Discussion Papers, Disinformation, International Affairs, Journalistic Practice, Papers, Publications, War, Defense & Security / By

The New Media Propaganda Wars and the Value of a Second Draft Read the paper A new paper by James Harkin, Joan Shorenstein Fellow (Fall, 2018) and Director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London explores current debates about online disinformation through the prism of Syria reporting and a single incident – a heavily

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Big Tech and Democracy: The Critical Role of Congress

Disinformation, Faculty Research, Papers, Policy & Issues, Politics & Government, Public Interest Technology, Publications, Tech Policy, Technology / By

In March 2019, two projects at Harvard Kennedy School—the Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project at the Belfer Center and the Platform Accountability Project at the Shorenstein Center—hosted a workshop for Congressional staff to identify and discuss policy approaches to the dilemmas of big tech platforms.

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Racecraft. Castecraft. A Transnational Weapon to Criminalize and Dehumanize African American, Dalit, and Romani People

Leave a Comment / By

For centuries, racist or casteist ideologies have overlapped in the oppression of African Americans, Dalits, Romani people, and others. The racecraft of inferiority continues to be a powerful ideological weapon that ruling elites and dominant majorities have been using—intentionally and unintentionally, overtly or covertly—against historically oppressed groups. Join us for a panel discussion featuring: Cornel

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Assessing Campaign Quality: Was the 2016 Presidential Campaign a Travesty?

Campaigns, Elections & Parties, Discussion Papers, Papers, Politics & Government, Publications / By

By Roderick P. Hart, Fall 2018 Shorenstein Fellow and Shivers Chair in Communication and Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin This essay is forthcoming as part of a special symposium on Campaign 2016 to be published in the Fall edition of Presidential Studies Quarterly. Download a PDF copy of this paper here. Introduction It

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Platform Accountability: An Interim Measure

Business & Economics, Faculty Research, Government Institutions, Papers, Policy & Issues, Politics & Government, Public Interest Technology, Publications, Tech Policy, Technology / By

Download the PDF of this paper here. Introduction The major digital platform companies present a large, complicated array of benefits and problems for the country and the world. The companies increasingly have the attention of both average citizens and senior-most public officials as befit entities that have achieved great—perhaps even paramount—influence in political, social, and

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The White Woman Voter

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With Koa Beck and Adam Serwer, Spring 2019 Joan Shorenstein Fellows. Koa Beck is the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel and the co-host of “The #MeToo Memos” on WNYC’s The Takeaway. She was previously the executive editor of Vogue.com and senior features editor at MarieClaire.com. Her literary criticism and reporting on gender, LGBTQ rights, culture, and race have appeared in

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Garrett Graff

Garrett Graff: Decoding the Mueller Investigation

Audio & Video, Past Events / By

Garrett Graff is a journalist, historian, director of the Aspen Institute’s Cybersecurity and Technology Program, and author of The Threat Matrix, the definitive account of Robert Mueller’s time as head of the FBI. In this episode of the Shorenstein Center’s podcast, he talks about the Mueller Investigation: what we know, what we still don’t know,

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Can Cities Save the Census? A Local Framework for Our Nation’s First Digital Count

Discussion Papers, Domestic Affairs, Government Institutions, Papers, Policy & Issues, Politics & Government, Public Interest Technology, Publications, Race & Gender / By

With trust in federal government and institutions at historic lows, local governments, including cities and counties, must play a critical role in the 2020 Census. If we don’t get the census right, there is so much we are at risk of getting wrong – the implications of which will last for years.

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Estimating the Effect of Asking About Citizenship on the U.S. Census

Domestic Affairs, Faculty Research, Government Institutions, Papers, Policy & Issues, Politics & Government, Publications, Race & Gender, Technology / By

The 2020 U.S. Census will, for the first time since 1950, ask about residents’ citizenship status. The effect of doing so on census completion across different racial/ethnic groups is, however, unknown. Leveraging a survey experiment, we are the first to assess the causal effect of this question change.

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The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center dedicated to exploring and illuminating the intersection of press, politics and public policy in theory and practice. The Center strives to bridge the gap between journalists and scholars, and between them and the public.

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