A study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that a movie and texting campaign effectively encouraged people in Nigeria to report corruption, reports Yomi Kazeen for Quartz. “Given the popularity of the local movie industry and the prevalence of corruption in Nigeria,” writes Kazeen, “the researchers looked to study how Nigerians report corruption using high-profile actors to model behavior.”
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Barry Posen argues for reevaluating America’s role in NATO. “President Trump has no strategy for returning the European allies to full responsibility for their own futures,” writes Posen, “the American foreign policy establishment could better spend its time devising such a strategy than defending the counterproductive trans-Atlantic status quo.”
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Lewis highlights a study by MIT researchers analyzing data on first-time misdemeanor offenders in Harris County, Texas. The researchers found that “black defendants who got jail time because they were randomly assigned to a more punitive courtroom were significantly less likely to vote in the next presidential election.”
Los Angeles Times reporter Melissa Healy writes that a study by Prof. Adam Berinksy examines how fact-checking impacts how voters view politicians who lie. Healy writes that in a study of Australian voters, Berinksy found that, “fact-checking changed subjects’ views about which politicians they supported, but only slightly.”
Vox reporter Emily Stewart writes that a working paper co-authored by MIT researchers finds that companies that benefited from recent tax cuts were more likely to announce new benefits for workers. Stewart writes that the researchers found, “companies with larger expected tax savings were likelier to announce a boost for workers. So were companies with political action committees that donate to Republicans more than Democrats.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, Una Hajdari, the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies, examines the Trump administration’s approach to working with European countries.
Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Charles Stewart examines why ballots are still being counted in Florida and Georgia following the midterm elections and why the post-election night vote count favors Democrats. “Voters across the United States have demanded greater flexibility in how and when they cast their ballots,” explains Stewart. “This greater flexibility comes with a price: a delay in counting ballots.”
On this episode of WGBH’s Living Lab Radio, Senior Lecturer Jason Jay discusses how to engage in productive and civil political conversations at the Thanksgiving dinner table. “The only hope you have for a productive conversation is to start from what we call a foundation of relatedness,” says Jay.
Writing for The Conversation, Prof. Tauhid Zaman discusses his research showing how a small number of very active social media bots can have a significant impact on public opinion. Zaman notes that his findings are “a reminder to be careful about what you read – and what you believe – on social media.”
Researchers from MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute have developed a machine learning tool that can identify fake news, reports Steven Melendez for Fast Company. Melendez writes that the system “uses a machine learning technique known as support vector machines to learn to predict how media organizations will be classified by Media Bias/Fact Check.”
Vox reporter Zack Beauchamp highlights a study co-authored by Prof. Ezra Zuckerman Sivan that finds voters often support a politician they recognize is lying when the politician is viewed as upholding a specific group’s best interests. Zuckerman Sivan explains that the lies are seen as “as a tool for expressing a larger truth.”
Research affiliate Tim Hwang speaks with Aaron Mak of Slate about whether Google is suppressing conservative media outlets in search results. “I don’t think the question is whether or not it’s biased. All these systems embed some kind of bias,” explains Hwang. “The question is: Do we have transparency to how some of these decisions are being made?”
In an article for the Pacific Standard about dispelling rumors and conspiracy theories, Nathan Collins highlights research by Prof. Adam Berinsky examining how information sources impact voters. “People speaking against their interests [are] more credible,” Berinsky explains. “What’s more credible: the surgeon general or McDonald’s saying you shouldn’t eat French fries?”
Prof. Simon Johnson speaks with Ailsa Chang of NPR’s All Things Considered about the Trump administration’s plan to remove tariffs and trade barriers with the European Union. Johnson says a zero-tariff agreement would allow the U.S. to become more integrated with Europe.
TechCrunch reporter Sarah Perez spotlights Outfit, a startup co-founded by MIT alumnus Nadeem Mazen that is aimed at making grassroots-style political campaigning easier. Perez explains that Outfit “helps individual voters reach out to their own personal acquaintances, family and friends.”