You are here: Â鶹ÊÓƵ School of Public Affairs Congressional & Presidential Studies The Politics of Truth Conference Program
Contact Us
Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States
Program
- 8:15
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Breakfast
Constitution Hall, Â鶹ÊÓƵ - 9:00
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Welcome
David C. Barker, Â鶹ÊÓƵ - 9:15
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Session I: Concepts
Moderator: David C. Barker, Â鶹ÊÓƵ
Sample Questions:- How widespread is misinformation and disinformation?
- How does misinformation compare/relate to the broader phenomena of motivated reasoning, dueling fact perceptions and unjustified certainty?
- How do we clarify the distinctions between Stereotypes, Rumors, Denialism, Alternative Facts and Conspiracy Thinking?
Presentations
- Lies, Damn Lies, and Democracy
Robert Y. Shapiro, Columbia University - Information Disorder: Definitions and Processes
H. D., Harvard University - Stereotypes in Post-Truth Politics: Enhancing Political and Group Divisions
Donald P. Haider-Markel and Mark R. Joslyn, University of Kansas - Denialism or Conspiricism? The Causes and Consequences of Rejecting Authoritative Accounts
Joseph Uscinski, University of Miami - Selective Exposure to Misinformation: Evidence from the Consumption of Fake News During the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign
Andrew Guess, Princeton University, Brendan Nyhan, Dartmouth College and Jason Reifler, University of Exeter
- 11:00
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Session II: Causes
Moderator: Liz Suhay, Â鶹ÊÓƵ
Sample Questions:- To what extent is misinformation a "top-down" vs. a "bottom up" process?
- How do values, partisanship, and group identity interact to inform motivated reasoning?
- Does the context or the type of factual dispute condition these processes?
- How is the technology/media landscape contributing?
Presentations
- Misinformation and the Currency of Democratic Citizenship: A Retrospective
Jennifer Jerit, Stony Brook University - The New Battlegrounds over Facts in Democracy
Cary Funk and Scott Keeter, Pew Research Center - What Ordinary Survey Data Can (and Cannot) Tell us About Partisans' Views of "The Facts"
Alan S. Gerber and Gregory A. Huber, Yale University - The Roots of False Beliefs: Political Rumors in America from 2010-2017
Adam J. Berinsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - The Relationship between Losing an Election and Conspiracy Theory Endorsement
Joanne Miller, University of Minnesota
- 12:30
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Lunch
Keynote Discussion: The Ethics of Misinformation
Mike McCurry, Wesley Theological Seminary (White House Press Secretary, 1995-98)
Michael Gerson, The Washington Post (White House Chief Speech-writer and Senior Policy Advisor, 2000-6)
Moderator: Betsy Fischer Martin, Â鶹ÊÓƵ - 2:15
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Session III: Consequences
Moderator: Arthur Lupia, University of Michigan
Sample Questions:- What is the full range of consequences associated with misinformation and polarized fact perceptions?
- How deep and widespread are the effects?
- To what extent are the consequences-as well as the phenomenon itself-ideologically asymmetrical?
Presentations
- The Consequences of "Truth Decay"
Jennifer Kavanagh, RAND Corporation - Dueling Facts and Social Disdain
Morgan Marietta, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and David C. Barker, Â鶹ÊÓƵ -
Motivated Reasoning and Dueling Fact Perceptions: Ideological Symmetry or Asymmetry?
David C. Barker , Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Morgan Marietta , University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Kim Nalder, California State University, and Danielle Joesten-Martin, California State University, Sacramento. - Post-Truth Politics and Growing Distrust of the Local Press
Danny Hayes, George Washington University and Jennifer L. Lawless, Â鶹ÊÓƵ - Combating the Anti-Muslim Rhetoric of the 2016 Presidential Campaign: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Corrective News
Kim Fridkin and Jillian Courey, Arizona State University
- 4:00
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Session IV: Correctives
Moderator: Diana C. Mutz, University of Pennsylvania
Sample Questions:- "Post-Truth" suggests that fact-based deliberation is a lost cause. Is this right?
- What is the impact of corrective information?
- Do education, sophistication, or other habits of the mind make a difference?
- Is there anything that media can do to slow or reverse the trend?
Presentations
- Can Facts Change Attitudes about Fiscal Policy?
John Sides, George Washington University - Does Exposure to Scientific Evidence Promote "Evidence-based" Policymaking?
Nathan Lee, Stanford University - Misinformed in an Unequal World: How Accurate Information about Inequality and Personal Income Affects Public Support for Redistributive Policies
Cheryl Boudreau, University of California, Davis - How Reflection Improves Reasoning about Politics
Vin Arceneaux, Temple University - Fact-Checking the 2016 Presidential Election & the Role of Selective Exposure
Amanda Wintersieck, University of Tennessee-Chatanooga
- 5:30
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Close and Reception
- 7:00
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Politics of Truth Roundtable
EJ Dionne, Washington Post/Georgetown University
Robert Costa, Washington Post/PBS Washington Week
Molly Ball, Time/CNN
Shawna Thomas, Vice News
Moderator: Ron Elving, National Public Radio and Â鶹ÊÓƵ