Watchdogs, Gatekeepers, or Referees? The Media’s Role in Democratic Elections

As the 2024 election season approaches, we are again faced with an onslaught on information, misinformation, and disinformation about candidates, issues, and the election process itself. What impact, if any, do the media have on U.S. elections? How can we strive to educate ourselves and others with the best information to make informed choices? At this panel session, the authors of the recent article “Prebunking Election Fraud: Strategies to Confront Conspiracy Theories” (in Social Education) will provide a brief primer of the different roles the media plays in politics and how citizens can contextualize and interpret information from various media sources.