Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Mar 6

Experiencing Kathy Cramer's fantastic book "Talking about Politics" firsthand in the local Caribou, with a group of older gentlemen discussing current events passionately and loudly as I answer emails.

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Mitch Prinstein @mitchprinstein.bsky.social · Feb 13

Happy to report that APA wrote this letter, gathered a coalition across science, and will now pay for ads for it to be disseminated in Science and Chronicle of Higher Ed to spread the word!! unitedsciencealliance.org

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Hannes Cools @hannescools.bsky.social · Feb 11

BBC just released damning research on AI assistants' news accuracy.

Results: 51% of AI responses had significant issues. 19% introduced errors when citing BBC. 13% misquoted or made up BBC content entirely. 🤐🤐
www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/... via @ezraeeman.bsky.social

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NPR @npr.org · Jan 28

The National Science Foundation has canceled all grant review panels this week. It's unclear how long the pause could last.

National Science Foundation freezes grant review in response to Trump executive orders

The National Science Foundation has canceled all grant review panels this week. It's unclear how long the pause could last.

www.npr.org

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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Jan 27

EU medicines agency quits X & moves to Bluesky

"EMA will no longer post updates and content on X. We believe the X platform no longer suits our communication needs” the agency said in a statement

www.reuters.com/world/europe...

EU medicines agency quits X, moves to Bluesky

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Monday it would no longer post on X and would use rival Bluesky instead, becoming the latest organisation to quit a social media platform that some have criticised for its content.

www.reuters.com

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Niels G. Mede @nielsmede.bsky.social · Jan 22

Now publicly available: the #TISP dataset. It contains 71,922 survey responses on public perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries. Published in @natureportfolio.bsky.social’s #ScientificData: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 📊

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American Political Science Review @apsrjournal.bsky.social · Jan 22

Just published on APSR First View: "Curation Bubbles" by Jon Green, Stefan McCabe, Sarah Shugars, Hanyu Chwe, Luke Horgan, Shuyang Cao, David Lazer. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/curation-bubbles/EBEBDE88633A86DFC821FE86B7708BB3

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Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Jan 22

New! Oxford researchers @oiioxford.bsky.social outline recommendations for studying the impact of artificial intelligence on young people’s mental health: bit.ly/3WRtpzV. #artificialintelligence #screentime #children #mentalhealth

OII | Oxford researchers outline recommendations for studying the impact of artificial intelligence on young people’s mental health

With the rapid adoption of AI by children and adolescents using digital devices to access the internet and social media, OII experts call for a clear framework for AI research considering the impact o...

bit.ly

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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.bsky.social · Jan 14

Remember this? A problem we didn't have in automated speech recognition tools until OpenAI decided they were going to do away with alignment (not the kind that so-called "AI safety" people do)? And they're giving us "artificial general intelligence" any day now right?

apnews.com/article/ai-a...

Researchers say an AI-powered transcription tool used in hospitals invents things no one ever said

apnews.com

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Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · Jan 14

Important question: when and which political parties lie?

This new publication is pretty clear in its findings: radical-right populism is the strongest determinant for the propensity to spread misinformation.

Based on an analysis of 32 million tweets in 26 countries.

doi.org/10.1177/1940...

When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries - Petter Törnberg, Juliana Chueri, 2025

The spread of misinformation has emerged as a global concern. Academic attention has recently shifted to emphasize the role of political elites as drivers of mi...

doi.org

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David Rand @dgrand.bsky.social · Jan 7

🚨In Nature🚨
Meta is dropping fact-checking to avoid anti-conservative bias- but is there actually evidence of bias?
We this test empirically & find that conservatives
* ARE suspended more
* BUT share more misinfo
So suspension isn't necessarily evidence of bias www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Differences in misinformation sharing can lead to politically asymmetric sanctions - Nature

We find that conservatives tend to share more low-quality news through social media than liberals, and so even if technology companies enact politically neutral anti-misinformation policies, political...

www.nature.com

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Rita Tang @ritatang.bsky.social · Jan 6

New publication: Our analysis suggests in health journalists’ COVID-19 tweets, first-person pronouns, moral appeals, and negative emotions increase engagement, while politicized language reduces it.

Huge thanks to my amazing advisor @ekvraga.bsky.social and my fantastic collaborator Yuming Fang.

Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Jan 6

My first tweet of 2025:
🚨 Publication alert 🚨 led by my awesome graduate student @ritatang.bsky.social! We examine how health journalists tweeted about COVID-19, exploring which tweets get the most engagement. HINT: not politicized language!

Free link here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/SCCK2...

Strategic Subjectivity Shapes User Engagement: A Case Study on Health Journalists’ COVID-19 Tweets

Despite their important role in spreading accurate health information, particularly during crises, health journalists have to compete for audience engagement with a variety of content, especially p...

www.tandfonline.com

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Ryan J. Gallagher @ryanjgallag.com · Jan 7

Community Notes don't work by themselves. So many things don't get labeled because people don't reach "consensus" on them, which is really what Community Notes optimize for, not factuality

What an utter failure. So disappointing

Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · Jan 7

"We're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes, similar to X, starting in the U.S," Mark Zuckerberg announces

He asserts that "the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased, and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the U.S."

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Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Jan 6

My first tweet of 2025:
🚨 Publication alert 🚨 led by my awesome graduate student @ritatang.bsky.social! We examine how health journalists tweeted about COVID-19, exploring which tweets get the most engagement. HINT: not politicized language!

Free link here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/SCCK2...

Strategic Subjectivity Shapes User Engagement: A Case Study on Health Journalists’ COVID-19 Tweets

Despite their important role in spreading accurate health information, particularly during crises, health journalists have to compete for audience engagement with a variety of content, especially p...

www.tandfonline.com

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Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Dec 20

"Every health department staff member, former staff member, public health official and vaccine expert contacted by NPR repeated the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe, effective, and essential for preventing illness, hospitalizations, and deaths."

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots

An NPR investigation found Louisiana health officials told staff to stop promoting vaccines for COVID, flu and mpox, holding flu shot events or otherwise encouraging the public to get those vaccines.

www.npr.org

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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · Dec 19

Out now - National Academies consensus report on Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science 🧪

It was a privilege to serve as one of the 15 committee members from a wide range of scientific disciplines who put this report together. Quick 🧵1/

www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/und...

Cover of the report - it's in a blue/purple color scheme and shows an abstract illustration of a molecule and the title of the report "Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science Consensus Study Report"

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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Dec 19

Avian flu virus has been found in raw milk − a reminder of how pasteurization protects health

Raw milk can carry many dangerous germs − now including the H5N1 virus that causes avian flu.

buff.ly

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Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Dec 19

A charming example of how politics can work, and a reminder for anyone who thinks their vote doesn't count.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/u...

In a Small California Town, an Election Tie Is Broken by Drawing Straws

In an era of invective and distrust, two California candidates turned a tie over to chance.

www.nytimes.com

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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Dec 18

#Publichealth data shows #vaccines have saved 154 million+ lives worldwide over the past 50 yrs. A biochemist breaks down how claims by RFK Jr. about vaccine safety & effectiveness are inaccurate: https://buff.ly/3ZE7Kvn
(Mark R. O'Brian, University at Buffalo) 🩺🧪#episky #measles #mumps #polio

Vaccine misinformation distorts science – a biochemist explains how RFK Jr. and his lawyer’s claims threaten public health

Many claims about the dangers of vaccines come from misrepresenting scientific research papers.

buff.ly

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Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Dec 17

Awesome work! Just flagged it to add to my grad class reading list for the spring.

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Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · Dec 16

In this new article in American Psychologist we respond to critics in detail and clarify two key points for the field;

(1) The prevalence of misinformation in society is substantial when properly defined.

(2) Misinformation causally impacts attitudes and behaviors.

psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

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Emily Vraga @ekvraga.bsky.social · Dec 16

I have no words to express my sorrow and horror.... This happened in my hometown, as it has in way too many others.

www.npr.org/2024/12/16/g...

Four people are dead and several more are hospitalized in Wisconsin school shooting

Four victims and the suspected shooter are dead after a shooting at a Wisconsin grade school.

www.npr.org

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Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Dec 16

Private company buys a public good. A few years go by and the company decides the public good is no longer worthwhile; the public suffers as a result.

This story arc is way too common in modern society.
deadline.com/2024/12/max-...

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Gijs Schumacher @gijsschumacher.bsky.social · Dec 16

Can we reduce polarization with empathy? Just published a new (replication) study with @mrooduijn.bsky.social and Matthijs Gillissen showing that different components of empathy have quite different effects [1/5] www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Empathic Concern and Perspective-Taking Have Opposite Effects on Affective Polarization | Journal of Experimental Political Science | Cambridge Core

Empathic Concern and Perspective-Taking Have Opposite Effects on Affective Polarization

www.cambridge.org

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Sandra González-Bailón @sgonzalezbailon.bsky.social · Dec 11

New publication (4+ years in the making): “The Diffusion and Reach of (Mis)Information on Facebook”. shorturl.at/VE2fU
We analyze the propagation of 1B+ posts across content moderation regimes, with @davidlazer.bsky.social @jatucker.bsky.social @taliastroud.bsky.social @annenbergpenn.bsky.social

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