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Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs on stage

Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

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Mark Esper sitting next to Donald Trump

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Podcast: Regulating social media

Podcast: Regulating social media
Our Staff
By Our StaffMar 30, 2022
Our Staff
The Fulcrum staff.
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There are dozens of bills in Congress that would regulate social media in some way, but this week’s Civic Genius podcast guest has another idea to throw into the mix. Paul Barrett is Deputy Director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University, and his new report recommends that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulate social media companies.

Could this proposal cut back online misinformation without running afoul of the First Amendment? Listen in to hear Barrett explain why he thinks so.

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Was Trump elected due to sexism, misogyny and racism?

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How Democrats let a rising generation of supporters slip away

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Hand holding a mobile phone showing CNN's "Magic Wall."

CNN’s Magic Wall map with U.S. presidential, seen on a mobile phone on Nov.

Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Better but not stellar: Pollsters faced familiar complaints, difficulties in assessing Trump-Harris race

An oracle erred badly. The most impressive results were turned in by a little-known company in Brazil. A nagging problem reemerged, and some media critics turned profane in their assessments.

So it went for pollsters in the 2024 presidential election. Their collective performance, while not stellar, was improved from that of four years earlier. Overall, polls signaled a close outcome in the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

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Underwater cable model

A model of an internet cable that is laid along the seabed to transmit high-voltage electricity and the Internet via fiberglass.

Serg Myshkovsky/Getty Images

We need bipartisan cooperation to protect the internet

Your internet access is dependent on the security and resiliency of garden-hose-sized underwater cables. More than 800,000 miles of these cables criss-cross the oceans and seas. When just one of these cables breaks, which occurs about every other day, you may not notice much of a change to your internet speed. When several break, which is increasingly possible, the resulting delay in internet connectivity can disrupt a nation’s economy, news and government.

If there were ever a bipartisan issue it’s this: protecting our undersea cable system.

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Tangle News logo

Election Countdown, with guest Issac Saul of Tangle News

Scott Klug was a 32-year Democratic member of Congress from Wisconsin. Despite winning his four elections by an average of 63 percent, he stayed true to his term limit pledge and retired.

During his time in Congress, Klug had the third most independent voting record of any Wisconsin lawmaker in the last 50 years. In September 2023, he launched a podcast, “Lost in the Middle,” to shine a spotlight on the oft ignored political center.

“The podcast was born,” Klug told Madison Magazine, “out of the sentiment that a wide swath of the American public, myself included, can’t figure out how in the hell we got to this place. And more importantly, is there a way for us out of it.”

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CNN's John King and the Magic Wall

CNN and other media outlets need to explain the process, not just predict the winner on election night.

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This election night, the media can better explain how results work

Johnson is the executive director of the Election Reformers Network. Penniman is the founder and CEO of Issue One and author of “Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It.”

Watching election night on cable or network news is a great national tradition. Memorable moments arise as the networks announce their projections in key states. Anchors and commentators demonstrate extraordinary understanding of the unique politics of hundreds of cities and counties across the country. As the results of the most consequential election on the planet unfold, there’s a powerful sense of shared witness.

But our polarized politics has revealed a serious flaw in election night coverage. As disinformation abounds, it is increasingly important for voters to know how the actual, legally certain election results are determined. And right now, voters are not seeing enough of that information on their screens on election night.

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