by Hamdi Baala | Oct 15, 2019 | American Presidency, Journalism in the era of "fake news", Journalism in the Trump Era, Political Coverage
As the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump continues to expand, one question comes to mind. Did Silicon Valley put Trump in office somehow? Is social media to blame for this strange presidency, or is the problem much deeper? Facebook, Twitter and to some...
by Saara Koho | Oct 13, 2019 | Journalism, Journalism in the Trump Era, Personal Reflections, Political Coverage, Politics
In my home country, Finland, the great majority of newspapers are non-affiliated and independent. Party newspapers and reporters are a curiosity. That is why I have been surprised to notice how openly partisan many American journalists are. Some of them don’t seek...
by Kate Bartlett | Oct 11, 2019 | American Presidency, Journalism in the Trump Era, Personal Reflections, Politics, Presidential Election
I had a run-in with ”the Mooch” recently. I spoke to former White House adviser Anthony Scaramucci outside an event of his in Austin, Texas, and, um, it got a bit awkward. When he learned I was from South Africa, the Mooch said sarcastically that he supposed things...
by Hamdi Baala | Oct 11, 2019 | American Presidency, Changes in Journalism, Journalism, Journalism in the era of "fake news", Journalism in the Trump Era, Political Coverage
To the extent that there is such a thing as objective truth, I always thought that the “fake news” trend was just an exaggerated new spin put on an old phenomenon that we used to call rumors or hoaxes, with no real new danger. Long before this WPI fellowship,...
by Hanna Liubakova | Oct 1, 2019 | Journalism in the Trump Era
Not only was President Trump trying to coerce a foreign leader to find dirt on a political opponent, he also promotes a longstanding conspiracy theory originating in right-wing circles. As the rough transcript of Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr...
by Rosen Tsvetkov | Sep 29, 2019 | Journalism, Journalism in the Trump Era, Political Coverage
The days before elections in Bulgaria are always extremely tense. It is a well-known fact in my country that when there are elections, there are numerous attempts to manipulate the vote. Some of them are successful. The most popular method used by many Bulgarian...