At the 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival, national security experts including former 9/11 Commission chair Thomas H. Kean agreed that the nation is not as safe as it could or should be. One problem: Congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security was in the hands of too many committees and subcommittees.
Politics
Stephen Colbert’s Civics Lesson: Or, How a TV Humorist Taught America About Campaign Finance
Viewers of “The Colbert Report” who watched faux-conservative TV host Stephen Colbert set up a super PAC and 501(c)(4) organization during the last presidential election cycle proved to be better informed about campaign financing and the role of money in politics than viewers of other news channels and shows, according to a new study by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
National Security Experts Urge Reform in Congressional Oversight of Homeland Security
More than 60 leaders in national defense urged Congress today to reform the way it oversees homeland security, saying that the current system jeopardizes national security and leaves the nation vulnerable to cyber-attacks, bioterrorism, and other threats.
Scholars confer on ‘Patterns of Deception’ and more
In January, the Annenberg Public Policy Center brought together scholars in the fields of communication and debate and speech at a conference in Honolulu to review and make recommendations on current projects at the policy center, ranging from FlackCheck.org's Patterns of Deception videos to Tobacco Watch to an examination of presidential debates.
How campaign micro-targeting affects fact-checking of political ads
In "Messages, Micro-targeting, and New Media Technologies," published in The Forum in October, Kathleen Hall Jamieson writes that the trend in politics of micro-targeting ads toward individual voters makes it more difficult for reporters and scholars to know "who is saying what to whom, where and with what effect."
