Network Propaganda

conventional wisdom has emerged since the election of Donald Trump in 2016 that new technologies and their manipulation by foreign actors played a decisive role in his victory and are responsible for the sense of a "post-truth" moment in which disinformation and propaganda thrives. Network Propaganda challenges that received wisdom through the most comprehensive study yet published on media coverage of American presidential politics from the start of the election cycle in April 2015 to the one year anniversary of the Trump presidency. Analyzing millions of news stories together with Twitter and Facebook shares, broadcast television and YouTube, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the architecture of contemporary American political communications. Through data analysis and detailed qualitative case studies of coverage of immigration, Clinton scandals, and the Trump Russia investigation, the book finds that the right-wing media ecosystem operates fundamentally differently than the rest of the media environment.   Instead, the authors argue that longstanding institutional, political, and cultural patterns in American politics interacted with technological change since the 1970s to create a propaganda feedback loop in American conservative media. This dynamic has marginalized center-right media and politicians, radicalized the right wing ecosystem, and rendered it susceptible to propaganda efforts, foreign and domestic. The diagnosis complicates many of the proposed solutions that focus on better fact checking, transparent algorithms, or exposure to diverse sources, while emphasizing the critical role that professional journalism can and must continue to play in this propaganda rich environment.  

The Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, is pleased to present the book launch of Network Propaganda and a discussion on how to think about technology, politics, and media in the post-truth moment. Join Buzzfeed News media editor, Craig Silverman, whose data journalism first surfaced the "fake news" phenomenon in 2016, and Emily Bell, founding Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, alongside  Yochai Benkler, Harvard Law School professor and co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Join the conversation using #NetworkPropaganda.
This event is free and open to the public, though registration is required. Please direct any questions to towcenter@columbia.edu.