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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

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
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Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

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Ask Joe: Fostering social activism

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With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers

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The crook and the fumbler

Lawrence Goldstone
26 January

Pragmatism is the way forward

Dave Anderson
26 January

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

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26 January
Videos

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

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Video: Veterans for Political Innovation - Who we are

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Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

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Video: Kevin McCarthy is Speaker, but he's got a tough job ahead

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Video: #ListenFirst Friday End of Year

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Video: Minnesota Gov. Walz asks fellow Democrats to ‘Think Big’ when it comes to fixing voting issues

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Podcasts

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Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

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Podcast: Why we misunderstand independent voters

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Podcast: What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

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