The Shorenstein Center aims to make an impact on a few distinct areas of focus, each of which are integral to maintaining a healthy information ecosystem and strong democracy. The currently-active research projects outlined below cover a breadth of topics that are currently affecting the information ecosystem, trust in news, the journalism industry, and access to truth in our democratic societies.
The Technology and Social Change Project
The Technology and Social Change Research Project (known as TaSC for short) led by Dr. Joan Donovan, aims to understand how media manipulation is a means to control public conversation, derail democracy, and disrupt society. The project conducts research, develops tools, and facilitates workshops for journalists, policy makers, technologists, and civil society organizations on how to detect, document, and debunk media manipulation campaigns.
The Journalist’s Resource
A well-informed citizenry is essential for a healthy democracy. But are today’s news sources providing the information, analysis, and context needed to help Americans make informed decisions? As newsrooms shrink, journalists struggle to build expertise in the wide variety of topics they often are called on to cover. The Journalist’s Resource is a project of the Shorenstein Center aimed at bridging the gap between journalism and academia. Its primary goal is helping journalists improve their work by relying more often on scientific evidence and high-quality, peer-reviewed research.
News Sustainability
This new landscape requires new research on what news consumers want, on the sustainability strategies that support high-quality local journalism, and on the practices and products that support an informed citizenry. The Shorenstein Center’s News Sustainability program produces original research on sustainable business models and information accessibility for the digital age.
COVID States Project
The Public Interest Technology Lab
The Public Interest Tech Lab at Harvard is housed at the Shorenstein Center and contributes to the lively intellectual atmosphere of the Center. Led by Professor Latanya Sweeney, the lab aims to train future leaders in public policy and technology about the ways that technology works and its intended and unintended consequences for public interest and public good.
The HKS Misinformation Review
The HKS Misinformation Review is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing multidisciplinary research on mis- and disinformation. It operates on a “fast peer review” process that ensures the academic rigor of the articles but on much faster timeline than traditional academic publishing, because the research being published is timely and of great importance to practitioners currently working to combat disinformation and its effects.
Documentary Film in the Public Interest
Documentary films have become a driving media through which people understand politics, culture and the issues of our time. The Shorenstein Center’s program is examining issues facing documentary film practice, its media ecosystem and its role in civic life.
Fellowships
The Shorenstein Center’s Fellowship program brings journalists, academics, and practitioners in the fields of media, politics and public policy to the Kennedy School to engage with the Center’s research projects, faculty, students, and the broader university community.
Prizes and Lectures
Through its annual series of prizes and lectures, the Shorenstein Center recognizes the best journalists and authors working today, as well as politicians making a difference in the realm of public policy.
