Anya Schiffrin

This report surveys the impact of online political ads on election outcomes, examines the current regulatory landscape in the US and in Europe around mis/disinformation online, and proposes a set of policy solutions to curb the spread of false information, enhance disclosure requirements for paid political communications, strengthen privacy regulations, and restore transparency to political messaging in the US.

The gender dynamics of political discussion are important. These dynamics shape who shares their political views and how they share their views and reactions to these views. Using representative survey data from the United States and the UK, we investigate how social media platforms shape the gender dynamics of political posting. We also examine the concept of “mansplaining”—a term used to describe a patronizing form of communication directed at women by men.We argue that the possibility of being mansplained affects who is willing to post their opinions online, and as such, caution should be exercised when using digital trace data to represent public opinion.

Questions of media trust and credibility have been discussed—and researched—since the period between World Wars I and II and the subject is often returned to as new forms of technology and news consumption are developed. However, trust levels, and what people trust, differ in different countries. Part of the reason that trust in the media has received such extensive attention is the widespread view shared by communications scholars and media development practitioners that a well-functioning media is essential to democracy. But the solutions discussion is further complicated because the academic research on media trust—before and since the advent of online media—is fragmented, contradictory, and inconclusive. Further, it is not clear to what extent digital technology –and the loss of traditional signals of credibility—has confused audiences and damaged trust in media and to what extent trust in media is related to worries about globalization, job losses, and economic inequality. Nor is it clear whether trust in one journalist or outlet can be generalized. This makes it difficult to know how to rebuild trust in the media, and although there are many efforts to do so, it is not clear which will work—or whether any will.

Journalists in many countries are experimenting with how to build trust and engage with audiences, and our report examines their efforts. In our study, Bridging the Gap: Rebuilding Citizen Trust in the Media, commissioned by the Open Society Foundation’s Program on Independent Journalism, we profile organizations that are working to build bridges with their readers, viewers and listeners and deliver relevant news to local audiences.

We surveyed 17 organizations and conducted interviews with representatives of 15 organizations, one of which chose to remain anonymous. Among others we spoke to Chequeado in Argentina, GroundUp in South Africa, Raseef 22 in the Middle East, 263 Chat in Zimbabwe, Krautreporter and Correct!v in Germany, as well as Bristol Cable in the UK. The report also includes an annotated bibliography of academic studies on media trust and media literacy and a list of ongoing initiatives as well as sidebars on past efforts to boost media credibility.

The threats to independent journalism no longer come only from direct forms of state control. Where advocates of a vibrant public sphere once mobilized against the suppression and censorship of news, they now must also contend with the more complex challenge of media capture, the topic of a new book published by the Center for International Media Assistance and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

In this volume of essays edited by Anya Schiffrin, media capture is shown to be a growing phenomenon linked both to the resurgence of authoritarian governments as well as to the structural weaknesses presently afflicting media markets. In this environment, political figures and economic elites collude to undermine the independence of privately-owned media, and efforts to stop this collusion by activists, regulators, and the international community have proven to be ineffective.

This groundbreaking book presents the most important examples of world-changing journalism, spanning one hundred years and every continent. Global Muckraking is a sweeping introduction to international journalism that has galvanized the world’s attention. In an era when human rights are in the spotlight and the fate of newspapers hangs in the balance, here is both a riveting read and a sweeping argument for why the world needs long-form investigative reporting.

It is widely believed that the media has an important role to play in promoting development and in shaping economic policy. This is done partly by the media’s framing of the issues for public debate and by educating consumers of news. Increasingly, economists have shown that the media has played a constructive role in promoting informed civil engagement on economic policy and even in promoting corporate governance. At the same time, the business press has been referred to as the weak link or ‘step child’ in an increasingly professional and knowledgeable news room. Among other critiques, business journalists are faulted for being ideologically captured, and so generally presenting a pro-business/market point of view. They are often accused of being not only biased, but too ill-informed to write in an analytical or critical way about economics. This article examines the US press coverage of the stimulus package over several months in 2009 to ascertain the validity of these hypotheses. We found that although there was robust discussion of the stimulus, it was mostly focused on the political process rather than the economic issues, there was little agenda setting and government and business sources – including many with a ‘vested interest’ – were overwhelmingly cited the most.

The role of the business press in the current financial crisis strikes at the heart of the heated debate about the media’s role as guardians of our democratic society. With contributions from leading journalists and academics at the forefront of this issue, Bad News is the first attempt to navigate through a controversy that will be studied for decades to come.

The first journalism textbook for reporters who cover finance and economics in developing and transitional countries, Covering Globalization is an essential guide to the pressing topics of our times. Written by economists from the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund as well as journalists who have worked for Dow Jones, the Financial Times, the New York Times, Fortune, and Reuters—and with an introduction by Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz—this invaluable resource helps reporters write about subjects such as banking and banking crises, pension reform, privatization, trade agreements, central banks, the World Bank, sovereign debt restructuring, commodity markets, corporate governance, poverty-eradication programs, and the "resource curse."

Each chapter explains the basic economic principles and current thinking on a given topic and provides

• tips on what to look for when covering specific subjects;
• a way to structure business and economics stories;
• a way to use the Internet for reporting with links to more information online;
• extensive glossaries and much more.

This is a fascinating and wide - ranging collection of essays about truth and the media, and specifically the relationship between public relations and journalism.

In most resource-rich countries, natural wealth does not translate into prosperity for the majority of inhabitants, but instead leads to environmental and economic devastation, and hampers democratic reform.

Only an informed public can hold leaders to account. Yet local reporting often overlooks the legal, economic, and environmental implications of resource extraction. Covering Oil: A Reporter's Guide to Energy and Development, a collaborative work of the Open Society Foundation's Revenue Watch program and the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, aims to encourage rigorous reporting on these issues by providing practical information about the petroleum industry and the impact of resource wealth on a producing country.

The guidebook comes out of a series of workshops for journalists in the oil-exporting countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria, during which participants expressed a need for more information to help them understand the issues surrounding resource exploitation. In response to these consultations, Covering Oil outlines the fundamentals of petroleum contracts, provides a glossary of relevant economic theory, and presents case studies of major public policy issues.