Quick Reads

Anti-Disinformation Laws: Democratic Backsliding &...

March 19, 2025

A look at how ‘anti-disinformation’ laws exist within continuums of democratic backsliding that produce chilling effects. Read More
Anti-Disinformation Laws: Democratic Backsliding & Chilling Effects in Tunisia & Turkey
What We Learned in 2024

What We Learned in 2024: From GenAI to Election Co...

December 16, 2024

Important findings from our 2024 research. Read More
What We Learned in 2024: From GenAI to Election Coverage to Platform Research

Solidarity Reporting Beyond “The Latino Vote” and ...

November 25, 2024

Prompted by media discourse and criticism in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. election, the Center for Media Engagmenent held a workshop focused on encouraging journalists to move beyond reductive, monolithic labels, and identifying specific reporting practices for doing so. Read More
Solidarity Reporting Beyond “The Latino Vote” and “The Arab Vote”
Navigating Election Prep in Battleground Areas: News Editors Share their Strategies

Navigating Election Prep in Battleground Areas: Ne...

October 31, 2024

As Election Day approaches, how are newsrooms tasked with covering contentious races handling the pressure? 10 editors at newsrooms in battleground districts or states to learn more about the opportunities and challenges they face. Read More
Navigating Election Prep in Battleground Areas: News Editors Share their Strategies

How News Audiences Respond to Journalist Race and ...

May 22, 2024

Exploring how different racial and ethnic groups respond to bylines from journalists who share their race or ethnicity. Read More
How News Audiences Respond to Journalist Race and Ethnicity in Bylines

Values, Politics, and Misinformation: Examining Co...

April 23, 2024

This study aims to unpack the values that impact the Filipino diaspora’s political viewpoints and understand how political preferences are technologically communicated using these values. Read More
Values, Politics, and Misinformation: Examining Communication within the Filipino Diaspora

Fact-Checking Approaches for Broadcast News

February 2, 2024

A test of two fact-checking approaches found that both work equally well to correct misperceptions. Read More
Fact-Checking Approaches for Broadcast News

6 Important Outcomes from Our Research This Year

December 19, 2023

Learn more aboout the key outcomes of our research from the past year. Read More
6 Important Outcomes from Our Research This Year

A Simple Online Game Can Help Bridge Political Div...

November 16, 2023

New research that examines whether an online guessing game that includes questions about political issues can help address people’s misperceptions about the other side. Read More
A Simple Online Game Can Help Bridge Political Divides

Curbing the Decline of Local News Through Engaged ...

September 6, 2023

Practicing engaged journalism, where newsrooms build relationships with their audience by responding to community concerns, can offer a lifeline. Read More
Curbing the Decline of Local News Through Engaged Journalism
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5 Ways to Build Trust and Bridge Divides

July 1, 2023

Strategies to to combat news distrust and connect with communities that feel underserved by their local newsrooms. Read More
5 Ways to Build Trust and Bridge Divides

Do Democrats and Republicans Live in Different Wor...

June 27, 2023

A look at whether political partisanship is predictive of people's beliefs in true and false claims. Read More
Do Democrats and Republicans Live in Different Worlds?

How Multiple-Choice Quizzes Can Help Fact-Checkers

June 14, 2023

How online multiple-choice quizzes present an opportunity to encourage readers to engage with fact-checking content and to help them learn. Read More
How Multiple-Choice Quizzes Can Help Fact-Checkers

Build Trust Through Your Storytelling Process

April 28, 2023

Five actions newsrooms can throughout the storytelling process that can improve trust. Read More
Build Trust Through Your Storytelling Process

5 Steps for More Effective Solidarity Reporting

March 15, 2023

When reporting on marginalized communities, it’s imperative to get the story right by including people who help tell the whole story. Read More
5 Steps for More Effective Solidarity Reporting

What We Can Learn from People in News Deserts

January 15, 2023

While news deserts undeniably pose a problem, there is something to be learned from the way people in news deserts think about access to local information. Read More
What We Can Learn from People in News Deserts

A Year in Review: 10 of Our Most Interesting Resea...

December 22, 2022

Person-centered terms encourage stigmatized groups’ trust in news. The Center for Media Engagement, with support from Resolve Philly and Democracy Fund, asked people in recovery from substance abuse disorder, people who have experienced homelessness, and people with a disability for their feedback on news articles. We tested whether the use… Read More
A Year in Review: 10 of Our Most Interesting Research Findings in 2022

Using the Phrase “Fake News” Hurts Trust in Your J...

December 8, 2022

How three commonly used phrases for false content - fake news, false news, and misinformation - affect public perceptions of journalists and news media. Read More
Using the Phrase “Fake News” Hurts Trust in Your Journalists and Newsroom

Using Person-Centered Language Can Build Trust

November 11, 2022

Using person-centered language can foster trust and help news organizations better connect with stigmatized groups. It can also help some marginalized groups feel better represented by news coverage. Read More
Using Person-Centered Language Can Build Trust

Texas’ Asian Communities and EMAs: How WhatsApp an...

October 31, 2022

Political campaigns across the United States are paying close attention to the rising political importance of Asian American communities across the country. Nowhere is this clearer than in Texas. Read More
Texas’ Asian Communities and EMAs: How WhatsApp and WeChat will play a role in the 2022 midterms
Election Fraud Beliefs Web Tile

How Newsrooms Can Address Election Fraud Beliefs

September 15, 2022

Better understanding why some people think Trump likely won in 2020 gives news organizations the opportunity to address legitimacy concerns in future election coverage. Read More
How Newsrooms Can Address Election Fraud Beliefs

Help Audiences Learn By Adding Quizzes to Stories

July 15, 2022

Adding quizzes to news sites can provide a fun, interactive learning experience for users while also benefitting the news organization. Read More
Help Audiences Learn By Adding Quizzes to Stories

End-to-end Encryption for Messaging Apps: Importan...

July 6, 2022

The Propaganda Research Lab at the Center for Media Engagement (CME), in collaboration with Omidyar Network, hosted a RightsCon 2022 session on encrypted messaging apps (EMAs) and their global use for political propaganda, mis- and disinformation, activism, and news Read More
End-to-end Encryption for Messaging Apps: Important for Whom, How and What’s its Future?

Solving Questions of Digital Literacy Through Comm...

June 23, 2022

The Center for Media Engagement explores how public interest principles can be incorporated in social media to combat mis-information in larger communities. Read More
Solving Questions of Digital Literacy Through Community-Based Approaches

Building a Local System to Fight Misinformation

May 31, 2022

The Center for Media Engagement is working to build a local system for surfacing misinformation that can be adapted for different communities. Read More
Building a Local System to Fight Misinformation

Who’s Funding Primetime News – And Why It Matters

April 1, 2022

Do you know who funds the news you watch? As is widely known, some news programs focus on facts, while others focus on opinions. Behind all these programs are advertisers who drive revenue – meaning they have the power to hold news outlets accountable for their coverage. Read More
Who’s Funding Primetime News – And Why It Matters

How Digital Surveillance Deters Protest Participat...

March 9, 2022

This piece provides insights into the ways in which protests are surveilled and outlines two main issues with the practices: (1) general problems with the collection of personal data at protests, and (2) the problematic ways in which protest coverage is used toward political ends. Read More
How Digital Surveillance Deters Protest Participation

Making Political Points with Humility Can Bridge D...

February 1, 2022

We found that humility can help people bridge divides, making it a useful approach for news organizations looking to uplift content or comments that build bridges. Read More
Making Political Points with Humility Can Bridge Divides

​​Three Ways COVID-19 Affected Kenyan Media and Ho...

January 18, 2022

In the case of COVID-19, disinformation can occur when there is an intention to create a different viewpoint from that of vetted healthcare officials and authorities regarding the disease’s status, spread, prevalence, and management. While this phenomenon has been heavily studied in the U.S. and many European countries, parts of… Read More
​​Three Ways COVID-19 Affected Kenyan Media and How the Country is Trying to Counter the Fallout

10 Research Findings & What they Mean for New...

December 17, 2021

Ten takeaways from our research that can help newsrooms and journalists tackle challenges in the year ahead. Read More
10 Research Findings & What they Mean for Newsrooms