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In this issue: fact-checking, religious freedom, confronting incivility, and families divided by politics

The Fulcrum
January 21, 2022



Top Story

Fact-checking may be important, but it won’t help Americans learn to disagree better

Taylor Dotson

Entering the new year, Americans are increasingly divided. They clash not only over differing opinions on Covid-19 risk or abortion, but basic facts like election counts and whether vaccines work. Surveying rising political antagonism, journalist George Packer recently wondered in The Atlantic, “Are we doomed?”

It is common to blame people who are intentionally distributing false information for these divisions. Nobel Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa says Facebook’s “[bias] against facts” threatens democracy. Others lament losing the “shared sense of reality” and “common baseline of fact” thought to be a prerequisite for democracy.

Fact-checking, the rigorous independent verification of claims, is often presented as vital for fighting falsehoods. Elena Hernandez, a spokesperson for YouTube, states that “Fact checking is a crucial tool to help viewers make their own informed decisions” and “to address the spread of misinformation.” Ariel Riera, head of Argentina-based fact-checking organization Chequeado, argues that fact checking and “quality information” are key in the fight against “the COVID-19 ‘infodemic.‘”

Many people, including TV commentator John Oliver, are demanding that social media platforms better flag and combat the “flood of lies.” And worried Twitter engineers sought to “pre-bunk” viral falsehoods before they arose during the United Nations’ Glasgow climate summit in 2021.

As a social scientist who researches the role of truth in a democracy, I believe this response to Americans’ deepening political divisions is missing something.

Keep reading...

Opinion

Religious freedom matters but so do public health and voting rights

Lawrence Goldstone

The Supreme Court has it backwards: The free exercise clause of the First Amendment is designed to prevent the United States from becoming a theocracy, not to encourage it, writes author Lawrence Goldstone.

Ask Joe

Ask Joe: Confronting incivility without becoming uncivil

Joe Weston

Today Joe addresses how a person can address incivility in their daily life without becoming uncivil.

Video

Video: Helping loved ones divided by politics

Our Staff

Braver Angels co-founder Bill Doherty moderates a session of listening and learning with a pair of loved ones divided by politics.

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Contributors

Why gun control laws don’t pass Congress, despite public support and repeated outrage over mass shootings

Monika L. McDermott
David R. Jones

Courting theocracy

Lawrence Goldstone

But what can I do?

Pedro Silva

Are large donor networks still needed to win in a fairer election system?

Paige Chan

Independent voters want to be heard. Is anybody listening?

David Thornburgh
John Opdycke

The U.S. has been seeking the center since the days of Teddy Roosevelt

Dave Anderson
latest News

Ask Joe: Talking to people who believe voting has become pointless

Joe Weston
1h

Podcast: Broken news

Our Staff
1h

Biden follows Trump’s lead in expanding use of executive orders

Reya Kumar
13h

Podcast: 100% Democracy

Our Staff
26 May

Americans want action on gun control, but the Senate can’t move forward

David Meyers
25 May

Podcast: Why conspiracy theories thrive in both democracies and autocracies

Our Staff
25 May
Videos

Video: Helping loved ones divided by politics

Our Staff

Video: What happened in Virginia?

Our Staff

Video: Infrastructure past, present, and future

Our Staff

Video: Beyond the headlines SCOTUS 2021 - 2022

Our Staff

Video: Should we even have a debt limit

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirstFriday Yap Politics

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Did economists move the Democrats to the right?

Our Staff
02 May

Podcast: The future of depolarization

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11 February

Podcast: Sore losers are bad for democracy

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20 January

Deconstructed Podcast from IVN

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08 November 2021
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Ask Joe: Talking to people who believe voting has become pointless

Ask Joe: Talking to people who believe voting has become pointless

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Media
Sign: The Suprme Court justices supporting the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade

Courting theocracy

Judicial
President Biden signs executive order on police reform

Biden follows Trump’s lead in expanding use of executive orders

Balance of Power
Podcast: 100% Democracy

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Leadership