MADISON – R. Kelly Garrett, associate professor of communication at Ohio State University, will discuss the impact of social and online news media on Americans’ ability to understand politics and discern fact from fiction on Friday, Nov. 15, at Vilas Hall on the UW-Madison campus.
Garrett’s talk, titled “Susceptibility to Misperceptions in a Dynamic Media Environment,” is scheduled for 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. in the James L. Hoyt Multimedia Classroom, Vilas 2195, 821 University Ave. He will present a variety of results from an ongoing research project that started earlier this year.
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With his research team, Garrett conducted a six-month, 12-wave panel study with a representative sample of about 1,000 Americans in an effort to answer several questions about the effects of social media on news and politics. In his talk, Garrett will provide a detailed overview of their methods and tentative answers to those questions.
Two panel discussions featuring professors from UW-Madison and several other universities will follow Garrett’s talk. The first discussion, on communication, selectivity and polarization, is scheduled for 1 to 2:15 p.m. Panelists include Russ Neuman, New York University; Hernando Rojas, UW-Madison; Mike Wagner, UW-Madison; and Chris Wells, Boston University.
The second discussion, scheduled for 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., will focus on Jack McLeod, political communication and the UW. Panelists include Frank Durham, University of Iowa; Lew Friedland, UW-Madison; Nojin Kwak, University of Michigan, Doug McLeod, UW-Madison; Zhongdang Pan, UW-Madison; Donna Rouner, Colorado State; and Mira Sotirovic, University of Illinois.
