I am generally happy to field requests about my research on changing media, audiences for news and political information, or other issues concerning contemporary politics. My contact info is available here.
Selected press coverage of my research
Mousetrap Media/Mark Hakansson
Granger, Jacob. (2023, May 24). “Countering news avoidance: focus on relevance and value.” Journalism.co.uk.
Benton, Joshua (2022, Sept. 19). “The relief of missing out: Anticipated anxiety is a big reason why more people are avoiding the news.” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Edmonds, Rick. (2022, Jan 5). “Trust in media is low worldwide. Are media outlets reaching out to the wrong people?” Poynter.
Tavernise, Sabrina, and Aidan Gardiner. (2019, Nov. 18), “‘No one believes anything’: Voters worn out by a fog of political news.” The New York Times.
Published public-facing work about my research
“How do audiences decide what news to trust? Fairness and accuracy aren’t the only things that matter,” with Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila Mont’Alverne, and Amy Ross Arguedas (2021, April 211). Nieman Journalism Lab.
“From News Avoidance to News Fatigue,” with Ruth Palmer (2019, Jan.). Nieman Journalism Lab.
“The ‘Nate Silver Effect’ Is Changing Journalism. Is That Good?” (2017, Oct. 5). Politico Magazine.
“Does the Way Journalists Present Themselves on Social Media Reduce Audience Trust in News?” (2021, Dec 2). Columbia Journalism Review.
Other articles...
“Beltway reporting gets normal again, for better and for worse.” (2020, Dec. 10). Nieman Journalism Lab.
“As trust in news falls around the world, a new Reuters Institute report looks at trade-offs involved in trying to regain and retain it.” (2020, Dec. 3). Poynter.
“Forecasting the future of election forecasting.” (2020, Nov.). U.S. Election Analysis 2020: Media, Voters and the Campaign.
“How worried are you about an impending trade war? That might depend on what your fellow party members think,” with Elizabeth Suhay (2018, July 12). Washington Post, Monkey Cage blog.
“Polls may be making voters worse at predicting elections.” (2016, Nov. 18). Washington Post, Monkey Cage blog.
Other media interviews...
Schurenberg, Eric. (2023, April 27). "What your audience thinks of you." Digital Content Next.
Schamisso, Ben. (2023, Jan. 23). "News trust is highest in Finland. Can the US learn from that?" Scripps News.
de Villiers, Pierre. (2022, Nov. 30). "A Matter of Trust: Benjamin Toff of the Reuters Institute talks about boosting public confidence in journalism." FIPP.
Atencio, Mitchell. (2022, Oct 20). "How to read the news without sacrificing your mental health." Sojourners.
Davis, Angela, and Maja Beckstrom. (2022, Aug 18). "Are you avoiding the news? Why news fatigue and avoiding the news matters." Minnesota Public Radio.
Tiberii, Jeff. (2022, Mar 2). “Fatigued, avoidance and obsessed: the news consumption continuum.” WUNC Politics Podcast.
Montemayor, Stephen. (2022, Jan 2). “ONE FAMILY’S PATH TO JAN. 6: Alternate reality built on falsehoods led to insurrection.” Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Euronews. (2021, Sept. 10). “News media across the world face dwindling public trust, new report finds.” Euronews Tonight.
Kunova, Marcela. (2021, Sept. 9). “Indifference, not hostility, is the main barrier to building trust in news.” Journalism.co.uk.
Jackson, Zoe. (2021, Feb. 8). “Minnesota legislators brainstorm ways to connect with constituents during pandemic session.” Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Jacob, Mark. (2021, Jan. 19). “Medill Survey Shows Most News Industry Workers Believe Polls are Overused and Unreliable.” Medill Local News Initiative.
Prairie Public Radio (2020, Dec. 9). “Trusting News Sources.”
Granger, Jacob. (2020, Dec. 7). “The lack of trust in news cannot be fixed by the media alone (but we must at least try).” Journalism.co.uk.
FOX-9, “Morning News” (2020, Nov. 4).
Bierschbach, Briana. (2020, Aug 29). “Party conventions set ominous tone for November election.” Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Agarwal, Shubham. (2020, Aug 9). “How to fight information overload, but still stay informed.” Digital Trends.
Thibodeau, Marc. (2019, Nov. 26). “«Épuisés», des Américains se détournent des nouvelles.” La Presse.
Croman, John. (2019, Nov. 13). “Impeachment in the era of fragmented media.” KARE-11.
Van Oot, Torey. (2019, Oct. 21). “Trump trails top Democrats in new Minnesota Poll.” Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Brown, Gretchen. (2019, July 30). “How to avoid news fatigue but stay politically informed this election season.” Rewire.
Macalus, Austen. (2019, June 25). “Debunked story about a St. Cloud cross necklace confrontation re-emerges.” St. Cloud Times.
Schneider, Ellen, Jonah Sprinkel, Katelyn Rademacher, and Michael Haubner. (2019, May 6). “Faculty face tough balancing act in the classroom: challenging students in political discussions without silencing them.” Access U: Beyond the Cities.
Rash, John. (2019, Feb. 1). “Rash Report: Those who ‘shall not grow old’ should be remembered.” Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Magner, Mike. (2018, Oct. 29). “Tricky Tea Leaves.” CQ Magazine.
Minnesota Public Radio, “All Things Considered” (2018, Oct. 1).
Smith, Kelly, and Maya Rao. (2018, Sept. 29). “Campaign ad wars heat up across Minnesota.” Minneapolis Star Tribune.
KARE-11, “Breaking the News” (2018, Sept. 18).
Jacobson, Louis. (2017, Nov. 2). “Whatever Happened to Local Polling?“ Governing Magazine.
Spangler, Todd. (2016, May 31). “Gawker Stumbles to Traffic Low as Political Sites See User Freefall.”Variety.
Other press coverage...
Scire, Sarah. (2023, April 24). "'Tell a more complete story' and other lessons from a new report on mistrust of news media." Nieman Journalism Lab.
Clementson, David. (2023, Mar. 3). "Politicians’ health problems are important information for voters – but reporters and candidates often conceal them." The Conversation.
Scroll Staff. (2022, Sept 22). "Most Indians trust news they receive on WhatsApp, finds Reuters study." Scroll.
de Sá, Nelson. (2022, Sept 22). "Maioria dos brasileiros confia em notícias via WhatsApp, diz estudo." Folha de S. Paulo.
Gaur, Viraj. (2022, Sept 22). "54% of Indians Trust News on WhatsApp, 77% Trust News in General: Study." The Quint.
Granger, Jacob. (2022, Sept 22). "News on digital platforms is trusted less, new study finds." Journalism.co.uk.
Chakradhar, Shraddha. (2022, April 6). "People mistrustful of news make “snap judgments” to size up outlets." Nieman Journalism Lab.
Edmonds, Rick. (2022, April 4). "How to reach mistrustful and light news readers? It’s difficult, but not hopeless." Poynter.
Newslaundry. (2022, April 4). "For ‘untrusting’ news audiences in India, more faith in Google, WhatsApp: Reuters study." Newslaundry.
Baekdal, Thomas. (2021, Dec). “Analysis: Let’s fix the problem around trust in the media.” Baekdal.com
Chakradhar, Shraddha. (2021, Oct. 13). “Media consolidation and algorithms make Facebook a bad place for sharing local news, study finds.” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Mazza, Luigi. (2021, Sept. 10). “O Rosto da Desinformação.” Piauí.
The Quint (2021, Sept. 9). “Least Trusting of News Are Those Who Are Indifferent, Disengaged: Reuters Study.” The Quint.
Owen, Laura Hazard. (2021, Sept. 9). “The people who trust news least aren’t necessarily loud and angry — they’re indifferent, study of 4 countries suggests.” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Priyadarshini, Anna. (2021, Sept. 9). “Modi supporters are more ‘trusting’ of news coverage in India, finds Reuters research.” Newslaundry.
El País. (2021, Sept. 9). “Combatir la indiferencia del público es el gran desafío de los medios para ganar credibilidad, según un estudio.” El País.
European Federation of Journalists. (2021, Apr. 28). “Media need to work on their brand identities to gain trust, report says.” European Federation of Journalists.
Granger, Jacob. (2021, Apr. 26). “RISJ trust report: redefine your public image or bad actors will do it for you.” Journalism.co.uk.
Edmunds, Rick. (2021, Apr. 22). “Building trust in media: Users don’t see it the same way as journalists, new studies show.” Poynter.org.
Tameez, Hanaa’. (2020, Dec. 3). “Here are four things we still don’t know about trust in news.” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Demopoulos, Alaina. (2020, Oct. 15). “Meet the ‘News Avoiders’ Not Watching the Amy Coney Barrett Hearings.” The Daily Beast.
The Economist. (2020, Aug 22). “Britons are increasingly avoiding the news.” The Economist.
Benton, Joshua. (2020, Aug 21). “What can ‘folk theories of journalism’ tell us about why some people don’t trust us?” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Benton, Joshua. (2020, July 14). “What makes people avoid the news? Trust, age, political leanings — but also whether their country’s press is free.” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Bryant, Mollie. (2020, Mar. 25). “Why we avoid news during a crisis.” Big If True.
Mathews, Nick. (2019, Nov. 20). “The rise of news avoidance.” The Society Pages.
Black, Eric. (2019, Sept. 23). “Ben Toff on Americans’ news consumption — from ‘avoiders’ to embracers.” MinnPost.
Ordway, Denise-Marie. (2019, Sept. 20). “The consequences of ‘horse race’ reporting: What the research says.” Journalist’s Resource.Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Black, Eric. (2019, Aug. 6). “The Fate of the Fourth Estate.” CLA Magazine.
Panneerselvan, A.S. (2019, June 24). “Confronting news avoidance.” The Hindu.
Benton, Joshua. (2019, June 17). “Why do some people avoid news? Because they don’t trust us — or because they don’t think we add value to their lives?” Nieman Journalism Lab.
Nalvarte, Paola. (2019, June 5). “Young Argentinian media outlet bets on membership model and reader participation to end ‘information intoxication.’” Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
Merrefield, Clark. (2019, April 25). “Covering political polls: A cautionary research roundup.” Journalist’s Resource. Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Uberti, David. (2018, Oct. 18). “Forecasting the midterms: Uncertainty with a chance of finger-pointing.” Columbia Journalism Review.
Schmidt, Christine. (2018, April 23). “Saying “I can just Google it” and then actually Googling it are two different things.” Nieman Journalism Lab.