In collaboration with Emmy Award winning journalist and producer Francisco Caceres, we are developing and testing a game show where pairs of ideological opponents must collaborate to answer questions about American politics. If they get the questions right, they win money. If the get the questions wrong – they fall into a pool of cold water. Our theory is that nothing brings America together like watching their countrymates get soaked! Our early research suggests that watching an episode of the show leads to a ~20% reduction in partisan animosity.

Using Receptive Language to Increase Trust in Media

Trust in media has been declining, and the consequences have been disastrous. However, in recent research we demonstrate that using language that clearly signals engagement with opposing perspectives increases trust from readers on both sides of the aisle. An empirical analysis of 600 opinion editorials from prominent outlets showed that more receptive language predicted greater trust from readers “on the other side,” without loss of trust from like-minded readers.

Training journalists how to use language that shows engagement with both sides of an issue is can be a cheap, easy and effective way to increase audience trust. If you are interested in learning more read the research here and contact us.