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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

The conservative mind at 70

Michael Lucchese

Fulcrum Rewind: How to get along at Thanksgiving

Debilyn Molineaux
David L. Nevins

How reforming felony murder laws can reduce juvenile justice harms

Margaret Mikulski

What if neither party can govern?

John Opdycke

The case for the 4th, from a part-time American

Flora Roy

How to critique a Schedule F revival

C.Anne Long
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Podcast: America’s political orphans

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The Voter Choice Act reintroduced in the Senate

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How America skimps on healthcare

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States need to define emergency

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Video: Jordan bully tactics backfire, provoke threats and harassment of fellow Republicans

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Video Rewind: Reflection on Indigenous Peoples' Day with Rev. F. Willis Johnson

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Video: The power of young voices

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Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

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Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

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Podcasts

Podcast: Dr. F. Willis Johnson in a rich conversation with Patrick McNeal

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Podcast: Better choices, better elections

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Podcast: Are state legislators really accountable to their voters?

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06 October

Podcast: What does it take to “do democracy?”

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