JOP 88/3 pp. 1281-1285 2026-07-01 Original Does School Debating Reduce Vulnerability to Misinformation? A Field Experiment in Poland
Krzysztof Krakowski, Bernhard Clemm von Hohenberg, Davide Morisi
JOP 88/2 pp. 493-508 2026-04-01 Original The Supply of Conspiracism in State-Controlled Media
Gabriel Koehler-Derrick, Richard A. Nielsen, David Romney
Abstract
When, and why, do governments promote conspiracy theories and use conspiracist language in official media? We build on claims that autocrats use misinformation for diversionary purposes by showing that the level of threat a regime faces affects conspiracism: a mix of “classic” conspiracy theorizing and conspiratorial language. Governments facing threats may attempt to stave them off by promoting conspiracy theories in state media. By contrast, secure governments are not as prone to conspiracism because it can be politically costly in the long term. We test our arguments by examining conspiracism in Egypt’s print media between 2005 and 2018. When the government faced threats, the state-controlled newspaper printed more conspiracism than its independent counterpart. This relationship is moderated by changes in Egypt’s government: the state newspaper supplied less conspiracism during a brief period following relatively free and fair presidential elections.
JOP — 2026-03-02
Original Examining Partisan Asymmetries in Fake News Sharing and the Efficacy of Accuracy Prompt Interventions
Brian Guay, Adam Berinsky, Gordon Pennycook, David Rand