Media Literacy

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
q&a
Truth Decay in the Coronavirus Moment: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh
Mar 17, 2020
Jennifer Kavanagh, who wrote the RAND book Truth Decay about the diminishing role that facts play in making important public policy decisions, calls the unfolding situation with the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 a worst-case scenario.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Experts Discuss COVID-19: RAND Weekly Recap
Mar 20, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on COVID-19, how the United States is responding to the coronavirus outbreak, the spread of misinformation during this time, and more.
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Media Literacy
essay
American News Habits and the Challenge of Truth Decay
Mar 4, 2020
RAND researchers asked people where they get their news, how reliable they think it is, and whether they seek out viewpoints that are different from their own. The results provide some new clues to help diagnose and treat Truth Decay.
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Media Literacy
blog
Panel: How the Media Can Help Fight Truth Decay
Feb 25, 2020
Truth Decay is the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. As part of this phenomenon, Americans are losing faith in once-trusted sources of information, including the news. How might media organizations address this?
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Media Literacy
commentary
Our Actions Determine What We Read and See Online. Algorithms Are Only a Part of That Process
Tor Richardson-Golinski, Amelia Harshfield, Advait Deshpande
Feb 7, 2020
Open Access Government
As social media has increasingly become the main outlet for people to acquire news and opinion, there are concerns about the effect of algorithm-driven services on the spread of misleading information. But the issue doesn't merely lie with how social platforms use algorithms to deliver content.
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Information Operations
commentary
Artificial Intelligence and the Manufacturing of Reality
Christopher Paul, Marek N. Posard @mnposard
Jan 20, 2020
Strategy Bridge
Humans carry flaws in deciding what is or is not real. The internet and other technologies have made it easier to weaponize and exploit these flaws. And artificial intelligence will likely be used to exploit these weaknesses at an unprecedented scale, speed, and level of effectiveness.
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Media Literacy
blog
How Americans Get the News, Iran, Caregiving: RAND Weekly Recap
Dec 13, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on how Americans consume the news, U.S.–Iranian relations, how federal disability payments help caregivers, and more.
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Civic Education
commentary
The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40th Anniversary Reflections
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Nov 6, 2019
The RAND Blog
For 40 years, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ) has supplied government and private decisionmakers and the public with the results of objective, empirically based, analytic research. In this era of the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life, or Truth Decay, the mission and research of the ICJ have never been more important.
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United States
blog
RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress
Aug 5, 2019
For busy staff, August's respite from back-to-back meetings, hearing preparation, and late votes is hard-earned. The summer recess also provides an opportunity to get ahead of issues that will resurface in the fall. To that end, we have compiled recent RAND research on topics likely to top the congressional agenda come September.
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Summer Learning
blog
Truth Decay, Principals, Augmented Reality: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 12, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on media literacy education as a way to fight Truth Decay, turning screen time into outdoor time, the importance of school principals, and more.
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Politics and Government
blog
New Book by Arthur Brooks Tells Americans to Answer Hate with Love
Jul 8, 2019
Arthur Brooks spoke at a RAND event to discuss his new book, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt. He stressed that we don't have to disagree less but that we have to disagree better.
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International Diplomacy
blog
DMZ Meeting, Students with Disabilities, Iran: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 5, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un, supporting students with disabilities, the flawed logic of a proportional response in Iran, and more.
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Media Literacy
q&a
Searching for Truth: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh
Jun 26, 2019
Senior political scientist Jennifer Kavanagh helps lead RAND's work on Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. In this interview, she discusses her latest research on how news presentation has changed over time and across platforms.
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The Internet
blog
Journalism, U.S.–Iranian Tensions, School Reform: RAND Weekly Recap
May 17, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on how the news has changed in the digital age, rising U.S.–Iranian tensions, how educators feel about school improvement plans, and more.
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The Internet
blog
RAND's Analysis of News in the Digital Age: Three Takeaways
May 13, 2019
How has the rise of digital technology shaped the way that news is presented? RAND researchers conducted an empirical study to find out. Here's what you need to know from their findings.
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Media Literacy
commentary
What Role Should Schools Play in Teaching Pupils to Spot Fake News?
Asha Carpenter
Nov 28, 2018
Schools Week
Since social media is not regulated in the same way as traditional news media, anyone can convey information with little fact-checking. So how do we help children develop critical literacy skills to enable them to interpret the media correctly?
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Civic Education
blog
Conversation at RAND: Truth Decay
Oct 2, 2018
The recent erosion of public trust in facts and institutions is not the first period of Truth Decay in U.S. history. What's different this time is the increasing disagreement about objective facts. Jennifer Kavanagh and William “Pat” Getty discussed the trend and how to stop it.
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Databases and Data Collection, Analysis, and Processing
commentary
Truth Decay, America's Latest Pastime
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh
Jul 12, 2018
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Detailed data and complex analysis are the foundation of decisionmaking in baseball and many other professions and occupations. But facts are out of favor in current U.S. political and civil discourse, and the public policymaking that accompanies it.
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Media Literacy
commentary
In Reckoning with Today's Truth Wars, Look to America's Past
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh
Jun 19, 2018
CNN
The declining regard for factual evidence may be a defining characteristic of our current age. Previous eras suggest it is within society's power to restore respect for objective facts. Humankind just needs to put it on the agenda.
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Civic Education
commentary
The Diminishing Role of Facts in American Public Life
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh
Jan 17, 2018
USA Today
Without agreement about objective facts and a common understanding of and respect for data and analytical interpretations of those data, it becomes nearly impossible to have the types of meaningful policy debates that form the foundation of democracy.
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Quoted

If people can come together around COVID-19, and all developments are showing that they can, then perhaps they can be equally innovative in tackling many of the more silent 'COVIDs' of the time—i.e., the less immediately impactful but equally urgent and important challenges associated with aging and frailty, mental health, cancer, comorbidities, and health inequalities as just some examples.

Sonja Marjanovic

Senior Research Leader and Head of THIS Institute-RAND Europe partnership

Source: The RAND Blog

The price to be paid for not doing everything possible to impede the spread of the pandemic in terms of readiness and letting soldiers (along with their families and any other civilians with whom they interact) get sick could be significant.

Michael Shurkin

Senior Political Scientist

Source: War on the Rocks

The Defense Industrial Base Needs a Cyber Protection Program

Supporting Students' College and Career Pathways: Teacher and Principal Perspectives

Schools Pivot Online in Wake of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts

North Korea: Denying COVID-19

The Coronavirus Pandemic's Effect on Sleep

The Policy Currents Podcast

Helping Children Cope with Trauma: A School-Based Intervention

Planning for the Rising Costs of Dementia

Addressing the Invisible Wounds of War

Helping Coastal Communities Plan for Climate Change

Media Literacy

Truth Decay in the Coronavirus Moment: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh

Experts Discuss COVID-19: RAND Weekly Recap

American News Habits and the Challenge of Truth Decay

Panel: How the Media Can Help Fight Truth Decay

Our Actions Determine What We Read and See Online. Algorithms Are Only a Part of That Process

Artificial Intelligence and the Manufacturing of Reality

How Americans Get the News, Iran, Caregiving: RAND Weekly Recap

The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40th Anniversary Reflections

RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress

Truth Decay, Principals, Augmented Reality: RAND Weekly Recap

New Book by Arthur Brooks Tells Americans to Answer Hate with Love

DMZ Meeting, Students with Disabilities, Iran: RAND Weekly Recap

Searching for Truth: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh

Journalism, U.S.–Iranian Tensions, School Reform: RAND Weekly Recap

RAND's Analysis of News in the Digital Age: Three Takeaways

What Role Should Schools Play in Teaching Pupils to Spot Fake News?

Conversation at RAND: Truth Decay

Truth Decay, America's Latest Pastime

In Reckoning with Today's Truth Wars, Look to America's Past

The Diminishing Role of Facts in American Public Life

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