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Essay
Improving Media Literacy in Middle School
Middle schoolers can be savvy users of news and information—when they know where to look. But they're also easy marks for misinformation, disinformation, and trolls. Helping them find their way in today's media landscape is important both for their futures and for the future of democracy.
Sep 6, 2022
Blog
What You Can Do to Help Stop Truth Decay
Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts in American public life, isn't a problem that any one person can fix. But there are simple steps that individuals can take to help counter it.
Mar 29, 2022

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Blog
Coronavirus Outbreak, Drones, the U.S. Power Grid: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the intensifying coronavirus outbreak, cyber threats from drones, the vulnerabilities of the U.S. power grid, and more.
Mar 6, 2020
Essay
American News Habits and the Challenge of Truth Decay
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.
Mar 4, 2020
Blog
Russian Subversion, Truth Decay, Supervised Drug Consumption Sites: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on responding to Russian subversion, how the media can help fight Truth Decay, the first supervised drug consumption site in the United States, artificial intelligence, and more.
Feb 28, 2020
Blog
How the Media Can Help Fight Truth Decay
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?
Feb 25, 2020
Multimedia
How the Media Can Help Fight Truth Decay
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?
Feb 20, 2020
Blog
Most Popular RAND Research of 2019
The search for lasting solutions to difficult policy problems starts with facts. Here are the 10 research projects that rand.org readers engaged with the most in 2019.
Dec 24, 2019
Multimedia
The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40 Years
For 40 years, the RAND Institute for Civil Justice has supplied government and private decisionmakers and the public with the results of objective, empirically based, analytic research.
Dec 12, 2019
Tool
Fighting Disinformation Online: A Database of Web Tools
RAND researchers created a database of web tools that aim to fight the spread of disinformation. These include fact-checking tools, bot detectors, media literacy applications, and more.
Nov 12, 2019
Tool
What's Being Done to Fight Disinformation Online
With the rise of the internet and social media, false or intentionally misleading information can spread further and faster than ever before. What tools exist to fight disinformation online?
Nov 12, 2019
Commentary
The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40th Anniversary Reflections
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 Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life, the ICJ's mission and research have never been more important.
Nov 6, 2019
Blog
RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress
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.
Aug 5, 2019
Report
Media Literacy Education as a Tool for Mitigating 'Truth Decay'
Can media literacy education help counter the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life? To find out, RAND experts analyzed what we know—and don't know—about the subject.
Jul 11, 2019
Blog
The Most Popular RAND Research of 2018
RAND serves as an objective source of facts that help inform the world's most pressing policy debates. When decisions are based on the best evidence, that's when public policy can have a positive impact on people's lives. We're highlighting the 10 research projects that RAND.org readers found most engaging this year.
Dec 21, 2018
Multimedia
Best RAND Videos of 2018
RAND research yields findings that run the gamut of potential applications and promising policy solutions. Here, we highlight three of 2018's most captivating videos featuring RAND research and its potential to inform policy.
Dec 19, 2018
Commentary
What Role Should Schools Play in Teaching Pupils to Spot Fake News?
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?
Nov 28, 2018
Blog
Conversation at RAND: Truth Decay
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.
Oct 2, 2018
Multimedia
Truth Decay and Community Engagement
In this Events @ RAND podcast, RAND political scientist Jennifer Kavanagh and William
Sep 20, 2018
Commentary
Truth Decay, America's Latest Pastime
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.
Jul 12, 2018
Commentary
In Reckoning with Today's Truth Wars, Look to America's Past
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.
Jun 19, 2018
Multimedia
Truth Decay and Trust in Institutions
In this Events @ RAND podcast, the Pew Research Center's Carroll Doherty joins RAND's Jennifer Kavanagh for a discussion about the causes and consequences of Truth Decay and declining trust in institutions.
Jun 7, 2018

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Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor

Researcher Spotlight

Alice Huguet

Codirector, Center for Qualitative and Mixed Methods

Alice Huguet (she/her) is codirector for RAND's Center for Qualitative and Mixed Methods (C-QAMM) and a policy researcher focused on K–12 education. She studies policies that influence the academic and life opportunities of students who have been historically underserved by educational…
Ray Block, Jr.

Michael D. Rich Distinguished Chair for Countering Truth Decay

Ray Block Jr. (he/him) is the inaugural Michael D. Rich Distinguished Chair for Countering Truth Decay, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. The chair was established in honor of Rich, RAND's former president and CEO, who initiated RAND's Truth Decay work and made it an…

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