Considering the Federal Trade Commission’s Double Standard on Media Bias The FTC's regulatory and policy assault on media bias is itself clearly rife with bias, writes Philip M. Napoli.

Have a new piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social about the Federal Trade Commission's double standard on media bias.

www.techpolicy.press/considering-...

We're searching for the next Eugene Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism & Public Policy here at Duke. Application deadline is March 2nd. I'm chairing the search, so feel free to reach out with any questions.
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31624

One year into President Trump’s second administration, press freedoms are under attack On the next Charlotte Talks: freedom of the press. It’s a bedrock principle of American democracy and yet, one year into the second Trump administration, it is under attack. The Associated Press was b...

Enjoyed talking about the state of press freedom on Charlotte Talks, on @wfae.bsky.social

www.wfae.org/show/charlot...

LJRW Building Resilience: Policy Levers for Local News and the Future of Civic Information

Call for Proposals: 2026 Local Journalism Researchers Workshop supported by the Knight Foundation. Washington, DC, April 16-17. Workshop theme is Building Resilience: Policy Levers for Local News and the Future of Civic Information. Submission deadline is January 8th.
www.localnewsresearchers.org

News Distortion: The New Fake News | TechPolicy.Press The second Trump administration has figured out how to add some new wrinkles to its assault-on-journalism playbook, writes Philip M. Napoli.

With the FCC's "news distortion" rules back in the news, I thought I'd re-share this @techpolicypress.bsky.social piece from April about "news distortion" as the new "fake news". www.techpolicy.press/news-distort...

Gerrymandering: A New Era of Re-districting Battles [Podcast] | Sanford School of Public Policy In the latest episode of Sanford's Policy 360 podcast professors Jonathan Mattingly (Mathematics) and Asher Hildebrand (Public Policy) focus on increasing pressures on st

Got to do the guest host thing for @dukesanford.bsky.social's Policy 360 podcast. Topic is gerrymandering. sanford.duke.edu/story/gerrym...

Distinguishing Journalism from Political Influence Operations: Rethinking the FEC’s Approach to the Press Exemption Abstract. One defining characteristic of contemporary news and information ecosystems is the increasingly blurred line separating legitimate journalism from partisan political influence operations. While the First Amendment limits government interventions on this front, there is one seldom-discussed federal mechanism for bringing greater clarity to the question of whether an entity is operating as a news organization or a political influence operation. The Federal Election Commission (FEC), which regulates House, Senate, and presidential political campaigns, possesses the authority to determine whether an organization represents a legitimate press entity and its activities represent legitimate press functions, or whether it runs political influence operations in the guise of journalism. This “press exemption” represents an important and underutilized mechanism for bringing greater clarity and transparency to contemporary news and information ecosystems. This article utilizes a critical analysis of key FEC press exemption decisions to illustrate how the FEC brings inadequate analytical rigor to its responsibility to administer the press exemption. It describes enhanced analytical approaches that the FEC can employ when making press exemption determinations. Finally, it offers a roadmap for how the FEC can use its authority to address one of the key challenges confronting our news and information ecosystem and undermining an informed electorate.

New article with Asa Royal in the Journal of Information Policy -- Distinguishing Journalism from Political Influence Operations: Rethinking the FEC's Approach to the Press Exemption

scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/informa...

On moving fast and breaking things . . . again: social media’s lessons for generative AI governance Generative AI systems are increasingly being employed globally, bringing with them both tremendous promise and substantial potential for harm. As is often the case, governance initiatives are laggi...

Have a new piece on social media's lessons for the governance of generative AI in Information, Communication, and Society, co-authored with Suher Adi.

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MBACG...

News Distortion: The New Fake News | TechPolicy.Press The second Trump administration has figured out how to add some new wrinkles to its assault-on-journalism playbook, writes Philip M. Napoli.

Have a new piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social that looks at how the FCC is using its seldom-used "news distortion" rules to attack news organizations.

www.techpolicy.press/news-distort...

Very excited about the publication of my white paper, Distinguishing Journalism from Political Influence Operations: Rethinking the FEC's Approach to the Press Exemption, as part of the University of Delaware Biden School's SNF Ithaca Research Scholar Series. udspace.udel.edu/server/api/c...

Hi folks. The research center I direct, the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy, is now on Bluesky. Give us a follow if you want to keep abreast of what we're up to: @duke-dwc.bsky.social

Local News Researchers Workshop | Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media This conference brings together researchers across the academic, industry, non-profit and government sectors whose work addresses local journalism solutions.

1/17 is the deadline to submit proposals for the 2025 Local News Researchers Workshop, hosted by UNC's Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media and Duke's DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy. Follow link for details & to submit a proposal.
www.cislm.org/research/loc...

Ebook of Challenges and Developments in Public Service Journalism <b>Available online now and in print February 27, 2025</b> Challenges and Developments in Public Service Journalism, the 11th RIPE Reader, examines the role of public service journalism, as well as th...

New book chapter: Defining What's News: Digital Platforms and the Labeling of Public Service Media Outlets. In the new open access book, Challenges and Developments in Public Service Journalism
www.fulcrum.org/epubs/9s1619...

Platforms and the Presidency: An Unprecedented Situation | TechPolicy.Press The convergence of Trump and Musk’s political power with ownership of social media platforms raises urgent questions, writes Philip M. Napoli.

Have a new piece in @techpolicypress.bsky.social about the next president and one of his most senior advisors each owning their own social media platform. www.techpolicy.press/platforms-an...

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The DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy @Duke University & the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at UNC are hosting the 2025 Local Journalism Researchers Workshop, March 24-25. Follow the link for more details.
airtable.com/appZdWH37JED...

Documenting the Assault on Disinformation and Hate Speech Research | TechPolicy.Press Philip Napoli is a professor of public policy and director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy at the Sanford School at Duke University.

Really enjoyed speaking with @justinhendrix.bsky.social of @techpolicypress.bsky.social about my new article about the institutional assault on disinformation and hate speech research.
www.techpolicy.press/documenting-...

From platform politics to partisan platforms - Election Analysis - United States Prof. Philip M. Napoli James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy and Director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. He teaches...

Wrote a short piece with one of my undergraduate students, Talia Goodman, about the rise of partisan platforms in the 2024 election
www.electionanalysis.ws/us/president...

In pursuit of ignorance: The institutional assault on disinformation and hate speech research This article examines ongoing efforts to discourage disinformation and hate speech research in the U.S. These initiatives originate from a variety of institutional actors, including digital platfor...

New piece in The Information Society: In Pursuit of Ignorance: The Institutional Assault on Disinformation and Hate Speech Research. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

What’s with the rise of “fact-based journalism”? "To describe one form of journalism as 'fact-based' is to tacitly acknowledge that there is also such a thing as 'non-fact-based journalism.' And there isn’t."

New short piece with Asa Royal in @niemanlab.org about the rise of the term "fact-based journalism" and why its increased usage is problematic. www.niemanlab.org/2024/05/what...

Very excited about this new publication from DeWitt Wallace Center Doctoral Fellow, @atrexler.com.