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False Alarm: The Truth about Political Mistruths in the Trump Era

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title False Alarm: The Truth about Political Mistruths in the Trump Era
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Ethan Porter
By (author) Thomas J. Wood
SeriesElements in American Politics
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:80
Dimensions(mm): Height 230,Width 153
ISBN/Barcode 9781108705929
ClassificationsDewey:306.20973
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises; 3 Tables, black and white; 1 Halftones, black and white; 23 Line drawings, black and white

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 3 October 2019
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Americans are not invulnerable to factual information. They do not 'backfire'; facts do not make them less accurate. Instead, they become more accurate, even when corrections target co-partisans. Corrections of fake news yield similar results. Among Republicans, Trump's misstatements are less susceptible to corrections than identical misstatements attributed to other Republicans. While we do not observe facts affecting attitudes, multiple instances of misinformation can increase approval of the responsible politician - but corrections can reduce approval by similar amounts. While corrections do not eliminate false beliefs, they reduce the share of inaccurate beliefs among subjects in this study nearly in half.

Author Biography

Ethan Porter is Assistant Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, Washington DC. Thomas J. Wood is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Ohio State University.