podcast

COVID at the White House, voter disinformation, and how to report around the propaganda

As a result of an aggressive disinformation campaign, about half of Republicans believe voter fraud is a major problem. Now that President Trump has tested positive for covid-19, what will the impact be on his party’s push to question the validity of the election? On this week’s Kicker, Yochai Benkler, a professor at Harvard Law […]

October 2, 2020

As a result of an aggressive disinformation campaign, about half of Republicans believe voter fraud is a major problem. Now that President Trump has tested positive for covid-19, what will the impact be on his party’s push to question the validity of the election?

On this week’s Kicker, Yochai Benkler, a professor at Harvard Law School and codirector of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss Benkler’s study of online media stories and social media posts that referred to the risk of voter fraud, all posted between March 1 and August 31 of this year. His team found that Trump is central to the dissemination process and that, in the media’s effort to remain neutral, we adopt and amplify his framing.

CJR · COVID at the White House, voter disinformation, and how to report around the propaganda

SHOW NOTES

How the media has abetted the Republican assault on mail-in voting, Yochai Benkler, CJR

Amanda Darrach is a contributor to CJR and a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews School of International Relations. Follow her on Twitter @thedarrach.