Unspun

Can artificial intelligence help stop misinformation—or could it quietly make the problem worse? In this episode of  UnSpun Journal Club , check out new research on whether communication managers trust AI fact-checking tools and what happens when humans remain "in the loop." Follow Dr. Sturg BlueSky - Prof. Amanda Sturgill (@DrSturg) Websites - Sturg says | Unspun’s Substack Questions and...

What happens when secretive religious movements intersect with politics? In this episode of Unseen, Dr. Sturg begins with the present: recent reporting on Tulsi Gabbard and the Science of Identity Foundation before tracing the fascinating history of journalists covering new religious movements from the 1930s to today and on multiple continents. She has aliens, telepathy and a wild story about how...

If you repeat a lie enough, people may start to believe it. This idea of the big lie has been around for a while, but the last 8 years it has been so bad that fact checkers had to create a whole new rating level for how bad the lying is. Dr. Sturg breaks down the history of the big lie and shows how surrogates and supporters help to spread it.  In the interview, author and professor Dr. Jen Mercie...

Why is your grandma convinced that the news thinks she's mean or ignorant? In this week's episode of the UnSpun journal club, DrSturg looks at a study on folk theories of media bias. For the respondents in this story, bias was about more than just acts. facts. It was about representation, language, identity and whether people felt like journalists welcomed their perspectives. And the study...

Is the media actually biased? Or do we just think it is? In this episode of  UnSpun , DrSturg examines decades of research on media bias, political polarization, cable news and the psychology of news consumption. From Fox News and CNN to newspapers, social media and more, she explores what researchers have found about bias in news coverage and how people on opposite sides of an issue can see the s...

This week's paper, from Sweden, answers an important question: when politicians dogwhistle racism, can it make them MORE popular? In this episode, DrSturg breaks down clearly what a dog whistle is and the clever way this paper studied the matter. She ends with advice on what YOU can do to not fall victim and a message for journalists. Here is the original paper . DrSturg's book, Detecting...

This week is Stephen Colbert’s final on CBS, and it's part of a larger story behind modern media: consolidation. When a few companies own more of the places you get information, it affects how much corruption there is, how much you know about yourself and your neighbors and the fabric of society itself. So much of the information we get now feels overwhelming but strangely thin. You'll lea...

In this UnSpun Journal Club episode, Dr Sturg looks at a recent paper on what malicious AI swarms could mean for democracy, public debate, and social media itself. They could borrow from the older playbook of harassment and sealioning, made worse as agentic AI systems can imitate people, flood conversations, and manufacture the appearance of consensus. The question is not just whether AI can gener...

What happens when a handful of very wealthy control what gets reported and how/ In this UnSpun rewind , we look at the role of the press in an oligarchy—a system where power is concentrated in the hands of a few. From media ownership by figures like Jeff Bezos and David Ellison to global examples like Venezuela and Russia, this episode explores how information can be shaped or even suppressed. You...

In this episode of UnSpun, learn the hidden manipulation behind the news. From TV journalism of the '80s, with “if it bleeds, it leads,” to today’s algorithm-driven outrage, news has evolved into a system designed to capture attention. I walk through the research on clickbait and emotional manipulation to explain how it shapes not what you believe and how you act. Topics include: The psycholog...

Do social media algorithms actually change what you believe? In this episode of  UnSpun , we break down new research from on the political effects of X’s feed algorithm. Using a real-world experiment with X users, the study tests what happens when people switch between chronological and algorithmic feeds. We also examine the legacy of Cambridge Analytica and the broader concerns about filter bubbl...

In this episode of UnSpun, I look at the growing power of influencers in politics and public life. From streamers and commentators to legacy journalists turned creators, the media landscape has changed fast. Who gets trusted? Who gets heard? And what does it mean when more people get their news from personalities instead of institutions? I explore how influencers shape political knowledge, why the...

Welcome to Journal Club 6, which is about how it's gotten easy and inexpensive to make seemingly limitless disinformation ready to go straight into your feeds. Back in Roman times, it took control of the money mint to create and scale harmful propaganda. in this week's episode, Dr. Sturg looks at a paper that tested if it's possible to create convincing fake news without even having to...

Why do politicians swear—and why does it work? In this episode of  UnSpun , DrSturg examines how profanity functions as a political tool. From viral moments like Biden’s hot mic comment abotu Peter Doocy to the Trump Access Hollywood tape and John Fetterman’s “jagoff” controversy, explore how vulgar language captures attention and, for some, signals authenticity. But there’s a trade-off. Research...

In this episode of  UnSpun Journal Club , we break down new research on one of the biggest challenges in today’s information environment: misinformation. Most conversations focus on fact-checkers or national media. But this paper argues something different—that local journalism may be one of the most effective tools we have for stopping misinformation where it starts. We explore why misinformation...

In this episode of  UnSpun , we examine how governments shape wartime narratives and how journalists have challenged them across modern history. From Baghdad Bob’s surreal press conferences during the 2003 invasion of Iraq to the Pentagon Papers, the My Lai massacre, and the Abu Ghraib scandal, the episode explores how independent reporting has exposed truths that official accounts initially conce...

Can we stop misinformation  before  it spreads? In this episode of  UnSpun Journal Club , I break down a real-world Instagram field study on “prebunking” — a strategy that teaches people to recognize manipulation tactics  before  they encounter viral misinformation. Instead of fact-checking after the damage is done, researchers tested whether a short 19-second video about emotional manipulation co...

Some scandals flare up, peak, and vanish. Others come back for years. In this episode of  UnSpun , I trace the difference. Why was the Access Hollywood episode a brief burst, while h the Jeffrey Epstein case a story keeps returning in cycles, fed by court filings, testimony, and periodic document releases. Join me as I break down the structural forces that determine whether a scandal sticks. Adver...

Deepfakes don’t just tell you lies. They show you “proof.” In this episode of  UnSpun Journal Club , I break downresearch from by Hwang, Ryu ad Jeong Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking  examining whether deepfake videos make misinformation more believable than text alone. The findings are concerning: But there’s good news. A short media literacy lesson—just seven minutes—helped a lot...

Newsrooms are shrinking and experienced reporters are getting pushed onto Substack or into freelance work. Does it change the news you receive when journalism moves from institutions to individuals? In this episode of  UnSpun , DrSturg looks at the complicated trade-offs that come with at the rise of freelance and independent journalism. From Washington Post layoffs to Substack newsletters, and fr...

Why don't fact checks stop fake news from spreading? In this episode of  UnSpun Journal Club , I break down research by Carlos Diaz Ruiz from the Hanken School of Economics that argues disinformation spreads not just because people believe it, but because digital media markets reward it. We look at how attention turns into money. How platforms, advertisers, and influencers all benefit when con...

Political change doesn't start with politics. Evidence suggests something else happens first. In this episode of UnSpun, we look at how media attention, repetition, and trust quietly shape what ideas feel acceptable long before policy is written. And news events like shooting protesters in Minneapolis can get liberals talking about gun rights and conservatives advocating for the right to prote...

Most efforts to stop misinformation focus on helping people recognize what’s wrong. But new research suggests that knowledge isn’t always the problem. Sometimes people share misinformation on purpose—because it feels useful, political, or appealing. This editon of UnSpun journal club breaks down Moral Deliberation Reduces People’s Intentions to Share Headlines They Recognize as “Fake News ” by Dan...

ou probably don’t go looking for the news anymore. It finds you. A post. A clip. A friend’s reaction. A meme that feels like a headline. Before you’ve read a single article, you already have an opinion. In this episode of  UnSpun , look at how social media has quietly changed what news feels like — and what that change does to trust and understanding. Drawing on recent research, we explore why fee...

Why do people reject information meant to help them? In this episode of  UnSpun , we explore  psychological reactance  — the instinct to resist control — and how it shapes our reactions to fact-checks, corrections, and even each other. From COVID-19 warning labels to social-media fatigue and holiday-table arguments, DrSturg traces how the need for freedom can make truth feel like pressure. And she...