Michael J. Socolow | Nieman Journalism Lab

Articles by Michael J. Socolow

Michael J. Socolow is an associate professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine.

November 13, 2024

What should journalists do when the facts don’t matter?

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink…Journalists need to understand how distributing true and useful information out into the world can be its own rewarding service — no matter what happens next.”

November 22, 2023

How the Kennedy assassination helped make network TV news wealthy

Until the early 1960s, TV news was seen as a loss leader.

April 27, 2023

How archivists are working to capture not just tapes of old TV and radio but the experience of tuning in together

“The very idea of collectively tuning in to history as it happens has been altered, as the profusion of channels and platforms now funnels audience members into self-segregated affinity groups where messages are shaped more for confirmation than enlightenment.”

March 14, 2023

Don’t trust “the news media”? That may be a good thing

The pervasive amount of news media criticism in the U.S. has intensified the erosion of trust in American journalism, but such discussion can be seen as a sign of democratic health.

March 15, 2022

Is “headline stress disorder” real? Yes, but those who thrive on the news often lose sight of it

“[T]he question is not whether the problem is real, but how research might quantify and describe its true prevalence, and how to address the problem.”

August 11, 2021

The traditional ratings weren’t great, but NBC’s Olympics showed video’s future

Media innovations that eventually become commonplace are often first introduced at the Games.

December 7, 2020

Substack isn’t a new model for journalism — it’s a very old one

If Substack’s pricing precludes widespread distribution of its news and commentary, its value as a public service won’t be fully realized.

May 21, 2020

Aiming for novelty in coronavirus coverage, journalists end up sensationalizing the trivial and untrue

Sometimes the biggest story does not advance as quickly as journalists might hope. It is in these moments of seeming stasis that journalistic repetition can become more powerful and serve as a way to hold government accountable.

October 2, 2019

Wriggling out of accountability: Misinformation, evasion, and the informational problem of live TV interviews

The great interrogations of TV news history didn’t happen live. “There’s one option that could be considered by these programs: not inviting guests who will mislead audiences with provably inaccurate information.”

June 17, 2019

News outlets will need public support to battle governments set on chilling investigative journalism

Recent police raids against journalists in Australia and the United States seek to instill fear in the minds of journalists and their sources — less to punish the last story than to discourage the next one.

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