News Business Model Pioneer Ben Monnie Joins Shorenstein Center as Visiting Fellow

The Shorenstein Center welcomes veteran news technology, business, and strategy executive Ben Monnie as a 2024-25 Joan Shorenstein fellow. Monnie recently joined CNN as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Operations, where he is leading efforts to expand and grow that organization’s digital consumer business. Prior to joining CNN, Monnie was a director at […]

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Announcing Fall 2024 Cohort of Documentary Film Fellows

Center News, Documentary Film, News / By Lindsay

The Shorenstein Center is proud to announce the Fall 2024 cohort of Documentary Film Fellows. The group joins the Center under the auspices of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the HKS community about the challenges facing the field and its impact on

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New Report Finds No Significant Change in Voter Preferences After First US Presidential Debate

News / By Lindsay

Despite the flurry of post-debate headlines and statements from politicians and pundits, a new survey from the nonpartisan Civic Health and Institutions Project (CHIP50) finds little evidence that the first presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump meaningfully shifted voter preferences. President Biden’s performance during the first 2024 presidential debate on June 27

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a woman sits in meditation pose with legs crossed and hands on her knees, in front of a window

Harvard Researchers Find That Gratitude Is a Useful Emotional Tool in Reducing Desire to Smoke: Key Implications for Public Health Campaigns

Behavioral Decision Science, News / By Liz Schwartz

Smoking continues to rank as the foremost preventable cause of premature death. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), Harvard researchers report findings that evoking feelings of gratitude in people who smoke helps reduce their urge to smoke, and increases their likelihood of enrollment in a

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graphic of a newspaper front page filled with the words "Keep it Simple"

Reading dies in complexity: Online news consumers prefer simple writing

Behavioral Decision Science, Faculty Research, News Business & Practice, Publications / By Liz Schwartz

The following are excerpts from a new peer-reviewed journal article published June 5, 2024 in Science Advances. Abstract Over 30,000 field experiments with The Washington Post and Upworthy showed that readers prefer simpler headlines (e.g., more common words and more readable writing) over more complex ones. A follow-up mechanism experiment showed that readers from the

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Reading Dies in Complexity – new study co-authored by Professor Todd Rogers

Behavioral Decision Science, Local News, News, Public Interest Journalism / By Liz Schwartz

New research co-authored by Shorenstein Center resident faculty member Todd Rogers suggests that simpler writing may be the key to attracting readers in today’s crowded online news landscape. A large-scale study analyzing over 30,000 headline experiments on news websites found that readers were consistently more likely to click on and engage with news headlines written

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New Report Provides Framework for Transparency in AI Systems

News, Public Interest Technology, Tech Policy / By Lindsay

A new report published out of Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy provides a framework to help AI practitioners and policymakers ensure transparency in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The report, titled “A CLeAR Documentation Framework for AI Transparency: Recommendations for Practitioners & Context for Policymakers,” outlines key recommendations for documenting

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The CLeAR Documentation Framework for AI Transparency: Recommendations for Practitioners & Context for Policymakers

Discussion Papers, Public Interest Technology, Publications, Tech Policy / By Lindsay

Authors Kasia Chmielinski* (Data Nutrition Project & Harvard University) Sarah Newman* (Data Nutrition Project & Harvard University) Chris N. Kranzinger* (Data Nutrition Project) Michael Hind (IBM Research) Jennifer Wortman Vaughan (Microsoft Research) Margaret Mitchell (Hugging Face) Julia Stoyanovich (New York University) Angelina McMillan-Major (independent researcher) Emily McReynolds (independent researcher) Kathleen Esfahany (Data Nutrition Project &

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Meet the newest members of the Shorenstein Center’s Advisory Board

Center News, News / By Lindsay

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is pleased to announce the addition of Kathleen Carroll, Katie Couric, Norm Pearlstine, Ben Sherwood, and Nabiha Syed to its Advisory Board. As the newest members of the Center’s Advisory board, they will provide insights and guidance in support of the Shorenstein Center’s mission to provide

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photos of 2023 Nyhan Prize winners: Mike Hixenbaugh, a light skinned man with dark hair and facial hair and glasses; Antonia Hylton, a medium skinned woman with curly brown hair, and Robert Downen, a light skinned man with dark hair and facial hair

Antonia Hylton, Mike Hixenbaugh, and Robert Downen win Nyhan Prizes for Political Journalism

Center News, Local News, News, Public Interest Journalism / By Liz Schwartz

For the first time in the 18 year history of the Nyhan Prize for Political Journalism, administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, the selection committee has chosen three co-winners for this year’s Nyhan Prize. Robert Downen, reporter at The Texas Tribune, and the team of Mike

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Elementor #43688

By Caroline

The six stories that were brought to light by the 2024 finalists for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting demonstrated the extraordinary lengths journalists go to uncover the truth. They uncovered some of the worst problems of public policy and governance in America: Corruption in the Supreme Court. Rampant crime

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Announcing the 2024 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting Finalists

News, Prizes & Lectures, Public Interest Journalism / By Lindsay

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School is proud to announce the six finalists for the 2024 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. The Goldsmith Prize, first awarded in 1993 and funded by a gift from the Greenfield Foundation, honors the best public service investigative journalism that has made an

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Nina Totenberg to be honored with the 2024 Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism

Center News, News, Prizes & Lectures, Public Interest Journalism / By Lindsay

Each year, the Shorenstein Center presents the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism to recognize outstanding contributions to the field and honor work that has enriched our political discourse and our society. This year’s winner is Nina Totenberg, whose trailblazing career covering the U.S. Supreme Court has surpassed that of the longest-serving Justices in

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Semifinalists for the 2024 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting

Center News, News, Public Interest Journalism / By Lindsay

Our judging committee was tasked with reviewing over 170 entries for this year’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. The following semifinalists are among the top 30 entries that our judges deemed to be of extremely high quality and in keeping with the Prize’s criteria for impact on US public policy. In the coming weeks, the

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Announcing Spring 2024 Cohort of Documentary Film Fellows

Center News, Documentary Film, News / By Lindsay

The Shorenstein Center is excited to announce the Spring 2024 cohort of documentary film fellows. The group joins the Center under the auspices of the newly-established Documentary Film in the Public Interest research initiative and will spend the semester conducting research and engaging with the HKS community about the challenges facing the field and its

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John Dickerson, a light skinned man with light reddish colored hair, speaks at a podium below a sign that say s"John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum" wearing a green jacket, white shirt, and tie.

The Presidency Above the Campaign

Campaigns, Elections & Parties, Discussion Papers, News Business & Practice, Politics & Government, Prizes & Lectures, Public Interest Journalism, Publications / By Liz Schwartz

CBS News Prime Time anchor John Dickerson, who has covered eight presidential candidates in his career as a political journalist, gave the Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics at Harvard Kennedy School on February 5, 2024. The following is a lightly edited version of his speech for publication. The full video of his

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Spring 2024 Shorenstein Fellows

Center News, News / By Lindsay

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is pleased to announce the Spring 2024 cohort of Shorenstein Fellows. Shorenstein Fellows join the center for a semester or year of research, events, and engagement with HKS students, faculty, and the wider university community. This semester’s fellows are working on research related to healthy democracy,

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Announcing the launch of Shorenstein Fellow Tom Casciato’s “Thousand Roads” podcast

Center News, Documentary Film, News, Public Interest Journalism / By Lindsay

The Shorenstein Center is celebrating the release of Shorenstein Fellow Tom Casciato’s podcast – “The Thousand Roads” – this week. Hosted by Casciato, an Emmy award-winning director, writer, and producer, the podcast explores the intersection of documentary film and journalism through interviews with industry leaders.

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Case Study: Integrity or Influence? Facebook’s Governance Trade-offs in India and the Power of the Press

Discussion Papers, Disinformation, Public Interest Technology, Publications, Tech Policy / By Liz Schwartz

Disclaimer: This is a working paper of the Democracy and Internet Governance Project at the Shorenstein Center. As a working paper it represents research in progress. This paper represents the opinions of the authors and is the product of professional research. It is not meant to represent the position or opinions of the Shorenstein Center,

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Case Study on Online Youth Harms – Project Daisy

Discussion Papers, Disinformation, Public Interest Technology, Publications, Tech Policy / By Lindsay

Disclaimer: This is a working paper, and hence it represents research in progress. This paper represents the opinions of the authors and is the product of professional research. It is not meant to represent the position or opinions of the Shorenstein Center, the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University as a whole, nor the official position

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