Media & Communication

Introduction Every generation of communicators faces a technology that promises to change everything. The printing press. Radio. Television. The internet. Social media. Each one rewired how information traveled, who controlled it, and what professional communication looked like. Each one also preserved something essential that the previous generation worried would be lost. I think about that history when I read about what AI is doing to journalism right now. The fear is under

Introduction Understanding why misinformation sticks — at the level of neuroscience and cognitive science — doesn't just explain the phenomenon. It points toward the responses that actually work. For anyone engaged in public affairs, strategic communication, education, or any field where truth-telling is a professional commitment, this is essential knowledge. The First Problem: Illusory Truth When a false belief gets corrected, the correction doesn't erase the original claim.

Introduction For most of my career in military public affairs, the information environment was shaped by human decisions — what to say, when to say it, and through which channels. The challenge was strategic: how do you communicate credibly in a complex, contested environment while maintaining institutional trust? That challenge hasn't gone away. It has multiplied. A growing body of peer-reviewed research and policy analysis confirms what many communicators have sensed for ye