Articles by

John Sands

  • Learning and Impact

    Knight announces open call to fund new research into combatting disinformation in communities of color

    The past several years have demonstrated that disinformation targeting communities of color have far-reaching implications for everything from elections to America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Academic studies, journalistic accounts and Congressional committees have found that false information online disproportionately targets historically marginalized communities. As an organization that seeks to foster informed and engaged communities, […]

    Article · July 21, 2021 by and

  • Journalism

    More research and resilient journalists are needed to combat the misinformation disorder

    On Oct. 29, 2020, Knight announced nearly $3 million in new support for projects to help journalists combat misinformation. Click here to read the press release. In the final days of a historic and consequential presidential election, the nation is facing an avalanche of falsehoods spread online and broadcast on cable and streaming television news. […]

    Article · October 29, 2020 by and

  • Journalism

    Public confidence in the media is sliding, but newsrooms can win it back

    Update: We have  learned of a methodological error in “American Views 2020: Trust, Media and Democracy” that does not alter the underlying integrity of the data nor the conclusions. It does alter the specific numbers for a range of results. Gallup is making corrections, which will be posted by Nov. 9. Until then, if you’d […]

    Article · September 15, 2020 by

  • other

    A pivotal moment for free expression online

    Technology is increasingly pitting free expression against the undeniable societal harms that accompany disinformation, hate speech, and other manipulative content that are often amplified by social media’s algorithms. Recent events have brought concerns around free expression online to the forefront of public awareness and are drawing more and more Americans into debates that even until […]

    Article · June 16, 2020 by

  • Journalism

    Public good or private enterprise? 9 lessons from new Knight/Gallup study on local news

    This year, Knight Foundation and Gallup have focused attention on better understanding Americans’ perceptions of local news. In October, we released a study that confirmed Americans place more trust in local outlets than in the national media. But we also found that, in an era of increasing polarization, this trust was more fragile than previously […]

    Article · November 17, 2019 by

  • Journalism

    Local news is more trusted than national news — but that could change

    When it comes to trust, local news media continue to outperform their national counterparts. But with a new Knight-Gallup study released today, we now know that we can’t take that trust for granted.  Americans still believe local news outlets are doing many things right, and the study confirms that. Six in 10 Americans believe local news […]

    Article · October 29, 2019 by