Author Archive

Articles by Michael Schudson and Julia Sonnevend | Email the Author

 

1. The Research Report

   The Climate for Science Reporting

   July 5, 2011 08:06 PM

   Early in December 2009, politicians, media representatives, and NGO officials queued up outside the Bella Center from eight in the morning until late in the afternoon for the Copenhagen climate-change summit—in freezing conditions: “Some…gave up, complaining that global warming... Continue reading

2. The Research Report

   How to Dow

   May 1, 2011 08:00 AM

   Stock-market indices offer an alluring impression of rigor and certainty. But what do they really mean? The University of Michigan political scientist Arthur Lupia and five colleagues argue in the January 2011 edition of Political Communication that... Continue reading

3. The Research Report

   The Public Screen

   February 23, 2011 04:45 PM

   The television set had arrived in the majority of American households by 1955. Inspired by the popular ideals of domesticity, “togetherness,” and a new culture of immense consumer spending, middle-class families rearranged their living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, dens,... Continue reading

4. The Research Report

   Any Questions?

   January 27, 2011 10:15 AM

   Sociolinguists are sociologists who study how people talk to one another. They are typically interested in naturally occurring speech, but unfortunately (for them) the preponderance of such communication disappears into the ether as it’s spoken. So where can the... Continue reading

5. The Research Report

   In ACORN’s Shadow

   December 1, 2010 04:45 PM

   Remember ACORN, the community-organizing group that got caught in the electoral crossfire between one-time community organizer Barack Obama and a highly motivated, conspiracy-minded contingent of conservative activists? The repeated attacks on ACORN for “voter fraud” moved into Sarah Palin’s... Continue reading

6. The Research Report

   Snapshots of War

   September 30, 2010 05:21 PM

   In April, WikiLeaks released a graphic video entitled “Collateral Murder,” which shows U.S. soldiers shooting from a helicopter on a group of Iraqis while making triumphant comments. The WikiLeak triggered heated discussions about who has the right to take... Continue reading

7. The Research Report

   Philadelphia Story

   July 6, 2010 12:36 PM

   Everybody knows that newspapers have been cutting jobs, cutting services, cutting corners. It is not so widely acknowledged that these cuts seem to be keeping them in the ring. Advertising is down, circulation is down, stories and pages are... Continue reading

8. The Research Report

   French Connections

   May 3, 2010 03:38 PM

   If you think about European print media at all, you are likely to think of newspapers that stake out ideologically precise points along the political spectrum from left to right, in contrast to an American press that is much... Continue reading

9. The Research Report

   True to Form

   February 25, 2010 03:35 PM

   Even the ways we think about revolutionary forces shape our revolutions. Revolutions are products of multiple institutional and personal decisions, inventions, and adaptations. This is as true of what we commonly call technological revolutions—including the digital revolution—as of others.... Continue reading

10. The Research Report

    Beyond Transparency

    January 8, 2010 07:34 PM

    A picture is worth a thousand words—but to whom? To the people who see it? Or to those who present it as their carefully orchestrated version of reality? More readily accessible visualization of data does not necessarily translate into... Continue reading

11. The Research Report

    Mourning Becomes Electric

    December 8, 2009 05:28 PM

    Fragmented. Few words are used more often to describe the media environment today. People disappear into their iPods, iPhones, BlackBerrys, Kindles, and laptops. They tweet, blog, Facebook, podcast, and wend their way through their favorite cultural and political sites. In... Continue reading

12. The Research Report

    Opening Minds

    October 6, 2009 09:34 PM

    Viewers of The Colbert Report do not all see the same show. Liberals see host Stephen Colbert as a liberal acting the part of intolerant blowhard. Conservatives, in contrast, identify with many of the attitudes Colbert affects and relish the... Continue reading