Media & Framing
Examining how editorial choices, story selection, and narrative construction shape understanding.
ExploreDocumenting media influence, algorithmic shaping, narrative control, and psychological leverage — with primary sources.
This project examines how information, media, and perception are shaped, distorted, and exploited in the modern digital environment. Our coverage is precise, measured, and non-partisan.
How narrative structures, language choices, and editorial decisions shape public understanding of events and issues.
How platform systems determine visibility, reach, and the structural advantages certain content types receive.
Economic and behavioral structures that influence what gets created, shared, and consumed at scale.
Distinguishing between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation — and why these distinctions matter.
Psychological techniques deployed at scale to shape perception, emotion, and decision-making.
How governments, corporations, and organizations coordinate and deploy strategic communications.
Five interconnected areas form the foundation of our research. Each represents a distinct mechanism through which information is shaped and perception is influenced.
Examining how editorial choices, story selection, and narrative construction shape understanding.
ExploreHow systems determine what billions of people see, and the structural biases embedded within.
ExploreNetwork effects, viral dynamics, and how information spreads through human and automated networks.
ExploreCoordinated communications from governments, corporations, and organizations.
ExploreCognitive biases, emotional triggers, and persuasion mechanisms leveraged at scale.
ExploreDocumented examples of information manipulation with primary sources. Each case study follows a rigorous structure: what was claimed, what was amplified, what evidence shows.
An examination of how recommendation algorithms create content pathways that progressively expose users to more extreme material, with analysis of platform internal research.
Systematic analysis of cases where article headlines conveyed significantly different implications than the supporting body text, and the engagement patterns this creates.
Documentation of large-scale psychological experiments conducted on platform users without informed consent, and subsequent policy responses.
Analysis of identified influence operations, their characteristics, reach, and the methodologies used to detect and attribute coordinated campaigns.
Understanding how structural incentives and systemic design create conditions for manipulation — independent of individual intent.
How economic models reward engagement over accuracy, creating systemic pressure toward sensationalism.
Algorithmic systems designed to maximize time-on-platform through emotional activation.
Feedback cycles where extreme content outperforms moderate content, shifting baseline expectations.
The commodification of human attention and its implications for information quality.
How personalization creates information environments that reinforce existing beliefs.
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society.
Edward Bernays — Propaganda, 1928
Understanding the taxonomy of false and misleading information is essential for accurate analysis. Intent matters. Outcomes matter. These distinctions enable precision.
/ˌmɪsɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
False information shared without intent to deceive. The person spreading it believes it to be true. Harm occurs through ignorance, not malice.
/dɪsˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
Deliberately false information spread with intent to deceive. Created or disseminated with knowledge of its falsity. Strategic and purposeful.
/ˌmalɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
Genuine information shared with intent to cause harm. True facts weaponized through selective disclosure, decontextualization, or timing.
Every assertion on this site is traceable to sources. We distinguish clearly between documented fact, informed analysis, and explicitly labeled opinion.
Our methodology prioritizes primary sources, peer-reviewed research, and verifiable documentation over secondary reporting or speculation.
Primary sources prioritized over secondary reporting
Clear distinction between evidence and analysis
Opinion explicitly labeled when present
Corrections published transparently
Source quality documented and assessed
No allegiance to ideology or institution
This is active documentation, not static opinion. New research, platform policy changes, and notable information events are added continuously.