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Trump’s Plan to Gather Data on Every Voter Will Cripple Democracy

Trump’s Plan to Gather Data on Every Voter Will Cripple Democracy

Trump, Greenland, and the Alarming Silence in Congress

Trump, Greenland, and the Alarming Silence in Congress

The Insurrection Act, Revisited: Power That Waits in the Margins

The Insurrection Act, Revisited: Power That Waits in the Margins

Is the U.S. Better Off Today Than a Year Ago?

Is the U.S. Better Off Today Than a Year Ago?

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Podcast: Separating news from noise
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumJan 30, 2023
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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How much news is too much? Or not enough? News Over Noise, the new podcast from Penn State's News Literacy Initiative explores that question and offers guidance on how to consume news that enhances your participation in our democracy without becoming overwhelmed by all the noise on social media and the 24/7 news cycle.

News Over Noise co-hosts Matt Jordan and Leah Dajches join Democracy Works to discuss how the news impacts our mental health, the future of media literacy education, and more. Jordan is a professor of media studies and Dajches is a post-doctoral researcher, both in the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State.

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Latest news

Fight Back for the Future: Reinstate Federally Funded TRIO Programs
Education

Fight Back for the Future: Reinstate Federally Funded TRIO Programs

Independent film captures Latino immigrant life in Wisconsin
Pop Culture

Independent film captures Latino immigrant life in Wisconsin

How New Jersey’s Ballot Slogans Could Put Power Back in Voters Hands
Elections

How New Jersey’s Ballot Slogans Could Put Power Back in Voters Hands

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The Fahey Q&A with Margaret Kobos, CEO and founder of Oklahoma United

Margaret Kobos is CEO and founder of Oklahoma United

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The Fahey Q&A with Margaret Kobos, CEO and founder of Oklahoma United

Since organizing the Voters Not Politicians 2018 ballot initiative that put citizens in charge of drawing Michigan's legislative maps, Katie Fahey has been the founding executive director of The People, which is forming statewide networks to promote government accountability. She regularly interviews colleagues in the democracy reform world for our Opinion section.

Margaret Kobos is CEO and founder of Oklahoma United, a grassroots political nonprofit with the mission to empower moderate and centrist voters in Oklahoma. OKUnited seeks to enact balance, common-sense solutions, and full representation of all voters through advocacy and systemic improvements. Currently, Margaret leads the Vote Yes 836 campaign to open the state’s closed primary system.

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Trump’s globalist era is going to make everyone poorer

US President Donald Trump delivers a special address during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 21, 2026.

(Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Trump’s globalist era is going to make everyone poorer

I’m not sure what to call the new era we seem to be entering. But I am sure it will make people poorer.

Let’s start with some basics. Imagine you inherit a thriving department store chain. Rather than listen to experts on consumer trends, supply-chain logistics, human resources, etc., you instead opt to go with your gut. Rather than follow market research or anything like that, you prefer to just hire your friends and do business with vendors who flatter you or sell stuff you think is cool. Under such a “system,” you might make some good business decisions, but odds are very strong that you’ll more often make bad ones. The rep from the Pet Rock supplier who gives you a “World’s Greatest Businessman” award gets his products in the store window.

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