mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Dartmouth political scientist and Bright Line Watch co-director. Previously Upshot NYT / CJR contributor, Spinsanity co-founder, All the President's Spin co-author.
Power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics https://www.npr.org/2022/12/19/1143753129/power-companies-florida-alabama-media-investigation-consulting-firm
Especially dangerous because of the greater trust people have in local news - see my Upshot column https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/upshot/fake-local-news.html
New at Nature: Like-minded sources on Facebook are prevalent but not polarizing
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06297-w
Our key findings:
-Median Facebook user gets 50.4% of content from like-minded sources
-But reducing exposure by 1/3 for 3 months had no measurable effect on attitudes
Beyond parody: "GOP states quit the program that fights voter fraud. Now they’re scrambling."
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/09/gop-states-program-voter-fraud-fight-00105252
30 months ago a violent insurrection inspired by the President sought to overturn a democratic election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Its leader is not only the leading GOP candidate for president but openly endangering the life of a former Democratic president (https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-obama-justice-department-capitol-mccarthy-27934bbd095111e7eb2bac5b5bb24e06).
Already being forgotten and/or erased from history.
What would you say if you saw it on another country? https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-obama-justice-department-capitol-mccarthy-27934bbd095111e7eb2bac5b5bb24e06
**Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social**
Two things can be true:
1. The social media injunction is far too broad (and is being mocked by knowledgeable legal experts).
2. We should worry about the potential misuse of government referring political speech to be removed in non-transparent communications with profit-making corporations.
Just a member of Congress casually saying that the left is trying to destroy our country and our family - another day in America https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/maga-america-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Friends don't let friends ruin their experiments by dropping participants who fail manipulation checks - new illustration in JEPS https://tinyurl.com/3zxt6u6w
See our AJPS - How Conditioning on Posttreatment Variables Can Ruin Your Experiment and What to Do about It
https://tinyurl.com/yz4dbbuw
Paul Graham's How to Do Great Work is outstanding; every young person and academic should read it. Following the advice is harder, but worth the effort. http://paulgraham.com/greatwork.html
Added to my compendium of the best academic career advice https://sites.dartmouth.edu/nyhan/academic-careers/
NEW: Bright Line Watch report featuring detailed public/expert survey data on Trump cases http://brightlinewatch.org/uncharted-territory-the-aftermath-of-presidential-indictments/
-Few Republicans think Trump broke law (unlike experts) but beliefs up since docs charges
-Rs split on punishment for specific docs charges
-Majorities of independents and Rs view charges as political
-About 2/3 of Rs say next GOP president should prosecute Biden & other Democrats in response
-Experts still rate Trump indictments as a benefit to democracy
Good analyses of the social media injunction from @mmasnick.bsky.social https://www.techdirt.com/2023/07/06/the-good-the-bad-and-the-incredibly-ugly-in-the-court-ruling-regarding-government-contacts-with-social-media/ and @davidgreene.bsky.social https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/07/preliminary-injunction-limiting-government-communications-platforms-tackles
Disappointing on Birdwatch/Community Notes - could be improved I'm sure but unlikely under M***
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-twitter-birdwatch-community-notes-misinformation-politics/#xj4y7vzkg
The comment I gave on the social media case to a news organization yesterday (not quoted) - much more complex issue than the way I am seeing it treated in news coverage and online commentary. (For more, see this excellent WP editorial https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/05/injunction-biden-administration-social-media/.)
My friend Ben Fritz's excellent new four-part podcast "With Great Power: The Rise of Superhero Cinema" has launched - episode 1 on the rise of Marvel is a banger https://open.spotify.com/episode/1iag6NRV7vP6c2Vo70lECt?si=hBXjEd2mRu6tLZTWflzLiQ (or under The Journal in any podcast app)