In the News

December 14, 2024 | ABC News Australia
“Fox News is definitely influential, and it’s because they have a very loyal following,” says Johanna Dunaway, the research director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship in Washington. Professor Dunaway believes Rupert Murdoch is right about the tie between the success of Fox News and its lean to the right. “It was right of centre from the beginning,” she says. “But as the media industry started collapsing in many areas, it made an even harder turn to the right and has only seen more success as it’s done that.”

December 12, 2024 | Newhouse School
“We’re so grateful for the support of the Hearst Foundations,” said Margaret Talev, IDJC Kramer Director and a professor of practice at Newhouse. “It’s essential for students and the public to know how to connect the dots between the information we consume, the  government we get, the freedoms we enjoy and our own roles in shaping the system. This generous grant will allow us to expand these programs.” 

December 10, 2024 | SU News
“Election ads on social media in the closing weeks of the campaign can be particularly influential, but also difficult in terms of voters’ ability to see whose money and influence is behind them, given lag times in reporting requirements,”says IDJC Kramer Director Margaret Talev, a journalist and professor of practice at the Newhouse School.   

December 6, 2024 | Spectrum News NY 1
“These numbers also really tell us how divided Americans are and that these are not bipartisan picks,” Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, told Spectrum News. “They’re not even trying to be bipartisan picks. The only group of Americans who support really any of these nominees are Republicans. Democrats, very low support. Independents, a third, at best, support.”

December 4, 2024 | The Daily Orange
The event, moderated by Margaret Talev — the Kramer Director of the SU’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship — was followed by an opportunity for students to ask questions of the recipients. Many students stayed for almost an hour conversing with the awardees, asking for personalized advice about their future careers.

November 21, 2024 | CBS News
Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, has announced he is withdrawing from consideration. This comes after Gaetz visited Capitol Hill to rally support among lawmakers for his confirmation. Margaret Talev, a contributor at Axios, joins CBS News with more. Also, Olivia Rinaldi reports on the Trump team reaction.

November 19, 2024 | Good Authority
Joshua Darr and Sean Whyard: Field offices are commercial office spaces that campaigns rent temporarily during an election season. These are often in locations that were once retail storefronts. Their main purpose is to serve as a hub for organizers to train volunteers – and a base for these volunteers to reach out to voters, whether that be phone banking or heading out to knock on doors. 

November 18, 2024 | CNBC
Candidates may also have an easier time advancing their message via podcasts rather than a traditional interview on a network, according to Syracuse professor Joshua Darr. Network interviews in recent elections have tended to be more combative than those conducted on independent podcasts or social media accounts, Darr said.

November 15, 2024 | Election Analysis 2024
Emily Sydnor: “In short, while Americans report a general desire for more civil politics, the 2024 election suggests that they are unwilling to punish their own candidate for incivility.” 

November 15, 2024 | Election Analysis 2024
Joshua Darr: “Offices do not vote: they provide a space for activists and volunteers to coordinate efforts, engage with voters, and organize activities to build support. They are not a substitute for remedying a candidate’s approval ratings, poor economic sentiment among the electorate, or the broader political environment…”

November 6, 2024 | WBUR
With the long political campaign over and President-elect Donald Trump ready to take office, it’s time to look ahead to his likely policies on issues ranging from immigration to health care to taxes and foreign policy.

Here & Now Host Robin Young checks in with Margaret Talev, senior contributor at Axios and director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

November 2, 2024 | NBC News
“Some experts add all this up and see the potential for Gen Zs and millennials to combine forces and lead the U.S. leftward out of this intensely polarized era,” said Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. “But some data also shows that Gen Z is slightly more conservative than millennials, and that the reshaping of both major parties’ identities could shuffle some of these voters’ allegiances in the years to come.”

October 30, 2024 | Axios
Article written by Margaret Talev: Half of Gen Z voters — and 1 in 4 U.S. voters overall — have lied to people close to them about who they’re voting for, according to the latest Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll. Why it matters: Voters 18-27 who came of age during the hyper-polarized Trump era appear to be among the most sensitive to perceived pressure and judgment from friends or loved ones.

October 30, 2024 | NBC News
“These voters show us two camps of Nikki Haley backers: those so turned off by former President Trump that they’ll vote third-party, stay home or even vote for Vice President Harris to keep Trump out of the White House, and those who will hold their nose and vote Trump because he’s the Republican nominee and they’re Republicans,” said Margaret Talev, the director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship in Washington.

October 25, 2024 | NBC News
Margaret Talev, the director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship in Washington, said, “One recurring theme among these voters was the idea that Vice President Harris either hasn’t demonstrated she can wield political power or that they believe other people won’t give a female president the same trust as a male president so that she inherently won’t be able to govern as well as Trump and that could impact national security or her ability to accomplish anything.”

October 23, 2024 | WAER
Trover and Hays shared some of their career histories, including the number of friends and colleagues each has in the other party, during a panel discussion hosted by Margaret Talev, Director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

October 22, 2024 | The Daily Orange
Margaret Talev, the moderator of the panel and the Kramer Director of SU’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, said Hays and Trover recently became friends despite working for opposing parties, because of their constant participation in political discussions on news shows.

October 18, 2024 | AP News 
With the assistance of the tech firm Bright Data, the AP identified a core group of influencers who played a significant role in helping promote the series. Posts by those influencers were shared by at least 9,300 other unique X accounts that have 33 million total followers, according to an AP analysis of “Zelenskyy Unmasked” X data created by Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

October 18, 2024 | WBUR 
Here & Now hosts Peter O’Dowd and Jane Clayson discuss the latest news with Axios’ Margaret Talev and NPR’s Ron Elvingin Georgia. 

October 16, 2024 | SU News
IDJC Kramer Director Margaret Talev adds: “Real, bipartisan concerns about election-related violence—accentuated by assassination attempts against former President Trump—have proved no match for the magnetic pull of negative, uncivil and attack-ad campaigning that Trump himself and his rivals consider too useful to set aside.”

October 10, 2024 | ABC News
“There’s pretty limited evidence that presidential candidate visits ‘matter,’ in terms of durable persuasion, mobilization, or voter knowledge,” Joshua Darr, a political scientist who studies campaign strategy, told 538.

September 27, 2024 | Spectrum News 1
Margaret Talev, director of the Institute for Democracy Journalism and Citizenship at Syracuse University, called the figure “stunning,” but consistent with the results of other surveys. “This may be the way Americans feel off the cuff when you ask them about this issue, but most voters that we talk to have never considered what it would actually mean and who it could actually impact,” Talev said in an interview with Spectrum News.

September 27, 2024 | Ipsos
A new Syracuse University/Ipsos American Identity poll finds that 42% of Americans view undocumented immigrants as a major threat to the American democratic system and rule of law. However, just 10% hold the same opinion of legal immigrants. Partisan divides exist, as Republicans (75%) are more likely to view undocumented immigrants a major threat than Democrats (14%).

September 26, 2024 | Axios
Americans’ top concern around misinformation right now — more than foreign government interference or AI — is politicians spreading it to manipulate their supporters, according to a new Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll [article written by Margaret Talev].

September 26, 2024 | NBC News
“These younger men, especially those leaning toward Trump, reflect an indifference to or rejection of traditional news sources in fact-checking claims ahead of voting. Seeing an unverified claim or meme somewhere on X may end up being a determinative data point for some if they do cast a ballot,” said Margaret Talev, the director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship in Washington.

September 25, 2024 | SU News
The centerpiece of the event was a panel discussion examining the changing landscape of collegiate sports and public policy. Margaret Talev, Kramer Director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, moderated the discussion. Panelists were James Phillips, commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Felisha Legette-Jack ’89, Syracuse University women’s basketball coach, and Mike Tirico ’88.

September 10, 2024 | The Julie Mason Show
Talev: “The pressure is certainly on Vice President Harris to do a number of things at the same time, one one is to assure more centrist voters who might not want to vote for trump but are very concerned about what was a much more liberal record when she was running for President the first time around and her career in the Senate. But it’s also a matter of making that connection with voters because from focus groups and polling, undecided voters say they feel like they don’t know her yet.”

September 9, 2024 | ABC 7 NY
Darr: “[With the debate] it’s really going to come down to Vice President Harris being able to define herself in a way that tells the American people both that she’s willing to, in a way, continue some of the popular policies of the Biden administration, continue to provide a strong contrast to Trump, while at the same time breaking from some of the less popular aspects of the administration in which she currently serves.” Interview timestamp – 3:50 to 8:29

September 4, 2024 | NPR Morning Edition
Talev: “Some [voters] are undecided because they are truly torn… The main thing that many undecided voters have in common is that they are what you would put in the category of low information consumers. They are not tuned in everyday to this race and they are not deep consumers. They may graze social media or watch their local channel but they have not been getting the steady stream of information.”

August 29, 2024 | NBC News
“Our conversations with these skeptics suggest Vice President Harris’ best path to win them over is through amplifying women’s reproductive rights as a key issue,” said Margaret Talev, the director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington and a partner in the focus group project. “Otherwise, many who say they don’t really know what she stands for — or what distinguishes her from President Biden — defaulted to former President Trump because they miss their pre-Covid personal finances, or said he better secured the border.”

August 21, 2024 | Axios
Vice President Kamala Harris is getting a bigger boost from picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate than former President Trump has gotten from Ohio Sen. JD Vance, according to two new polls. Why it matters: Running mates don’t usually determine presidential elections, but this race has enough twists to test that norm.

August 16, 2024 | Spectrum News
Democrats and Republicans are both more likely to vote for their respective favored candidates in November’s election by Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, according to the latest American Identity Poll from Ipsos and Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship released Friday.

August 16, 2024 | Spectrum News
Talev: “The real story behind these numbers is party ID, which party do you identify with, and we saw here in these results that more than half are Republicans, but only 5 percent of Democrats saying that the shooting means they are more likely to back former President Trump.”

August 16, 2024 | Spectrum News
Margaret Talev, the director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship, says that for every two independents that said [Harris as the Democrat nominee] made them more likely to vote for Trump, three turned to Harris.

July 25, 2024 | NBC News
“Harris would have real challenges winning over most of these former Haley voters. They overwhelmingly questioned her readiness for the job despite her three and a half years as vice president,” said Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship in Washington.

July 10, 2024 | WRVO
Joshua Darr, a professor at Syracuse University, said this means if you’re watching TV, your ad breaks are going to be filled with political ads. “Districts that are drawn to be competitive like this one are even rarer than they used to be,” Darr said. “At the same time, there is more money than there used to be in buying ads. That combination means that Syracuse is going to get soaked.”

July 10, 2024 | Newsweek
Joshua Darr, an associate professor of political communications at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that “Pelosi’s plea for Biden to decide is at odds with his clear statements that the only way he’s dropping out is if ‘the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me to.’ I can’t know what she’s thinking, but I doubt she’d still be imploring him to decide if he’d come to the decision she thought was best.”

July 10, 2024 | AP News
Political advertisements on social media are one of the best ways for candidates to reach supporters and raise campaign cash. But as a new report from Syracuse University shows, weak regulations governing online ads and haphazard enforcement by tech companies also make ads a prime source for misleading information about elections — and a tantalizingly easy way for con artists to target victims.

July 10, 2024 | SU News
“The prevalence of inauthentic groups, scams and deepfake voices just within the parameters of the search shows a massive amount of manipulation and misinformation targeting Americans through the political information consumed online,” says Margaret Talev, Kramer Director of the IDJC, professor of practice in the Newhouse School and a journalist.

June 26, 2024 | NBC News
“These voters were really angry RFK won’t be on the debate stage and saw it as a collusion between the major parties and mainstream media,” Talev said. “Several believe his independence from both parties makes him more likely to make or get deals. In 2008, [Barack] Obama was the outsider. In 2016 Trump was the outsider. These voters see RFK as this year’s version of that.”

June 19, 2024 | Podcast episode
Summary: The steady decline of traditional media seems a near certainty. In this podcast episode, Rick speaks with Margaret Talev, a journalist and head of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship at Syracuse University. They discuss the evolving challenges in the news industry, including the decline of local news, the rise of misinformation on social media, and the growing distrust in media, particularly among conservatives. Talev emphasizes the importance of reliable news sources for a healthy democracy and describes efforts to rebuild local news and civic engagement. She also shares insights from focus groups and polling on voter behavior and media consumption, highlighting the impact of media sources on public perceptions and polarization.

May 23, 2024 | NBC News
Margaret Talev: “They view Biden as failing to take actions at the border — and they credit Trump with trying to take action even if they disagreed with many of the actions themselves. Trump’s promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico may be his best known plan — these voters panned the idea and don’t want him to try again if he’s re-elected — yet they don’t hold it against him.”

May 7, 2024 | AP News
Stromer-Galley analyzed more than 24,000 political ad buys on Instagram and Facebook that were placed by 1,800 organizations from Sept. 2023 through February. Overall, the ads cost $15 million and were displayed nearly 870 million times. The findings were published Tuesday by the ElectionGraph Project at Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship through a partnership with the data science firm Neo4j.

May 7, 2024 | SU News
Johanna Dunaway, professor of political science and research director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC), has been named a 2024 Carnegie Fellow. She is one of 28 distinguished scholars and writers selected as a Carnegie Fellow to study political polarization.

May 2, 2024 | NBC News
Margaret Talev: Several of these young voters said outright that Biden’s signing of a law that could lead to TikTok being banned in the U.S. could make them less likely to vote for him — and some said if Trump protected their TikTok access, that might sway them to support him.

April 4, 2024 | NBC News
Margaret Talev: It may largely be a rationalization or picking up on talking points by union voters who already prefer Trump. But talking about being pro-worker also may resonate more broadly in this era of increased focus on the individual and decreased faith in institutions.

March 13, 2024 | Yahoo! News
Joshua Darr: It’s clearly a different election this time around — you could argue both Biden and Trump are weaker, and it’s a matter of relative weakness — but with a long eight months of unknowns in the way.

January 24, 2024 | CNN
Margaret Talev: Trump’s zeal to fight is resonating with voters.

January 11, 2024 | Axios
Republicans, rural residents, renters, women and singles disproportionately feel like they’re in a big fat funk financially, our debut Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll reveals.

December 6, 2023 | Edelman Trust Institute
Americans, like news consumers everywhere, not only need but want to have better media literacy, a better grasp on how government and the economy work, and the skills to avoid being manipulated or misinformed. But most people don’t know where to get these, or whom to trust.

November 17, 2023 | Axios
Twenty years ago today, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as California’s unlikely 38th governor. He spoke with Axios earlier this week to promote a new audiobook on the legacy of that recall election.

November 9, 2023 | Newhouse School of Public Communications
“A discussion with the 2023 Toner Prize winners”
Every year, the Newhouse School honors journalists with the Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting.

November 8, 2023 | Axios
Dishonest, untrustworthy and disingenuous — that’s how a majority of experts surveyed from leading universities view AI companies’ CEOs and executives.

November 6, 2023 | Axios
An online briefing with experts from the National Task Force on Election Crises hosted by Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism & Citizenship.

October 26, 2023 | SU News
Two Syracuse University institutes are welcoming researchers, academic leaders, policymakers and journalists for discussions in Washington, D.C., about innovations, vulnerabilities and the future of artificial intelligence.

The two-day AI Policy Symposium that begins today in the nation’s capital is organized by the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC) and the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute (ASPI).

October 17, 2023 | PolitiFact
He spent eight years in the White House, nearly every move recorded by press and watched by staff. But six years after former President Barack Obama left office, some conservative media figures aggressively circulated a salacious rumor: that Obama is secretly gay.

September 6, 2023 | SU News
The Axios-Generation Lab-Syracuse University AI Experts Survey of computer science professors finds that a majority of computer science experts at top U.S research universities want to see the creation of a new federal agency or global organization to govern artificial intelligence (AI).

September 4, 2023 | CNN
CNN political analyst Margaret Talev reacts to a new poll which shows former President Donald Trump is the the top choice for a majority of Republican voters.

September 1, 2023 | The News Roundup
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze when answering questions asked by reporters about whether he would run for re-election.

August 30, 2023 | SU News

The political scientist and media scholar will engage colleagues and students in nonpartisan, evidence-based research to foster dialogue in the public’s interest.

August 27, 2023 | Inside Politics
Analysis of the week in politics.

August 10, 2023 | Up To Date
A discussion on the state of American democracy, startling data on political divisions and how journalists should approach these issues.

August 2, 2023 | PBS Newshour
“For those Americans or those citizens who are only watching the national news, they often only get this sort of game-frame style coverage, that it’s almost like sports reporting with Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other,” says Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship research director, Johanna Dunaway.

July 17, 2023 | Axios Today
Life is about to get pricier for millions of families, with a triple whammy of pandemic-era safety net programs coming to an end around the same time this fall. How will this all pan out?

July 7, 2023 | Washington Week
“It’s a potential lifeline or at least a big help for Ukraine, but also it’s not what Ukraine really wants, which is NATO membership,” says Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship director, Margaret Talev.

June 30, 2023 | NPR “Here and Now”

The political fallout from big Supreme Court rulings and the latest from the 2024 campaign trail.

June 30, 2023 | NPR “Here and Now”

Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and LGBTQ rights reverberate politically.

June 22, 2023 | Axios Polls
A plurality of Latinos now says “neither” when asked which major political party cares more about them.

May 30, 2023
President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a debt ceiling deal over the weekend. Now, it’s up to Congress to vote for the bill and avoid a catastrophic default.

May 23, 2023 | Axios
The NAACP issued a formal travel advisory for Florida, warning people against going there, alongside the LGBTQ advocacy group, Equality Florida.

May 23, 2023 | Axios Polls
The Walt Disney Company took a big hit in this year’s Axios Harris Poll 100, dropping a dozen spots, to 77th, after tangling with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over students’ LGBTQ+ rights.

May 23, 2023 | Axios Polls
FTX and Tesla, once seen as shining examples of innovation and opportunity, took two of the biggest reputational hits in this year’s Axios Harris Poll 100 brand reputation survey.

May 22, 2023 | “Road to Now” podcast
The conversation covers campaign finance reform, social media and the impact ai is already having on American politics.

May 10, 2023 | SU News
The second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence event recognizes graduates and friends of Maxwell for their professional accomplishments and public service.

April 17, 2023 | SU News
A recent panel discussion held at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, celebrated the launch of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

March 31, 2023 | SU News
The Newhouse School celebrated the winners of the 2023 Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting during a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

March 31, 2023 | Axios
A Manhattan grand jury indicted former President Trump on Thursday on criminal charges related to a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

March 29, 2023 | SU News
Politico won the 2023 Toner Prize for national political reporting, and chief investigative reporter Phil Williams of WTVF-TV in Nashville, Tennessee won the Toner Prize for local political reporting.

March 17, 2023 | NPR “Here and Now”
A discussion of the political and policy divides exposed by the rescue of three American banks.

March 16, 2023 | Axios
Four in five Republicans want the U.S. to remain the world’s leading power — but fewer than half support giving Ukraine weapons and financial support to try to save itself from Russia.

March 16, 2023 | Axios
Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they oppose reducing spending on Social Security or Medicare.

March 16, 2023 | Axios
One in five Americans say they’d support a “national divorce” in which Republican- and Democratic-leaning states split into separate countries.

February 27, 2023 | CNN
CNN political analyst Margaret Talev reacts to a new video released by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and whether it’s an indication that he’ll run for president in 2024.

December 22, 2022 | Axios
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for his first international trip since Russia invaded Ukraine over 300 days ago.

December 14, 2022 | SU News
As a Los Angeles Times political writer, Seema Mehta ’98 B.A. (PSt) used to hear grumbling about the press at campaign events, but voters still understood she had a job to do. “They would say, ‘Oh, the media’s so biased, but I’m not talking about you, honey,’” she laughs.

December 14, 2022 | SU News
Americans on opposite sides of the political divide may not agree on anything other than the divide itself. And what may have at one time felt like a crack now feels like a chasm.

November 15, 2022 | SU News
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications today announced the appointment of veteran political journalist Margaret Talev as the Kramer Director of the Syracuse University Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship Institute.

June 9, 2022 | SU News
Syracuse University will soon launch the new Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. A joint effort of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the center will promote nonpartisan, evidence-based research and dialogue in the public interest and support the work of faculty and students.