In Focus with Sam Woolley and the Center for Media Engagement

By Alex Roeder, Chair Pair & former Editor-in-Chief

For over a decade, Samuel Woolley, assistant professor and program director at the propaganda research lab, has been doing important work researching and combating misinformation and disin- formation.

His research spans across many platforms but centers around artificial intelligence, social media and journalism organizations. Woolley works with Moody’s Center for Media Engagement to con- duct research and come up with solutions to make the information ecosystem better function. This includes empowering students to educate themselves on misinformation and disinformation while encouraging them to take an active role in changing the information landscape.

The center, from which much of Woolley’s work stems, exists to help democratize journalism. The research conducted there focuses on political communication.

It’s about studying (false content) using empirical methods to study how this content spreads, who spreads it and why, and to study what the effects of this are upon society,” Woolley said. “How does all of this harmful, misleading, manipulative content online affect public opinion, especially during elections?”

Woolley said there are three avenues to study in this research — producers of content, the content itself and how the public receives and processes the information.

“Historically, my study has been upon the political campaigns, the PR firms, the grassroots organizations, the corporations and even terrorist organizations that use the internet to spread propaganda for the purpose of manipulating public opinion for a variety of purposes,” Woolley said.

Education is key to help audiences better distinguish false content from the real thing, Woolley said.

“The biggest thing I think is necessary is media literacy in public schools,” Woolley said. “(People need) informational literacy, better campaigns online and more community-oriented education platforms for people to learn about how they’re being manipulated and what constitutes evidence versus hearsay.”

Public policy and judicial precedent are also a piece of the puzzle, he said, especially with how outdated the law is compared to current technology.

“It’s like looking at a manual for a 1950s VW Beetle and trying to use it to fix a Tesla,” Woolley said. “We’ve got to have new law to make sure we understand how this stuff should be governed.”

However, Woolley recognizes that right now, it’s not glamorous for students to go into the nonprofit work and academic research that can create change in these sectors. But, with all these needs emerging, Woolley said he hopes students take a special interest.

“In the next 10 to 20 years, there’s going to be so many jobs in law, in business and policy and in academia, that are focused on creating positive change in the technology ecosystem,” Woolley said. “Students should specialize in that because they’ll be able to find gigs.”

Students such as political communication junior Jordyn Tunnell are taking Woolley’s advice. Tunnell currently serves as undergraduate research assistant in the journalism vertical at the Center for Media Engagement. There, she studies coverage of the 2020 election using TikTok and local news.

“We’re looking at different local news stations and how they specifically reported on it and how that impacted the way people in certain areas believe that the election was stolen,” Tunnell said. “We’re doing research on the journalism that was done and the outcomes it had on our democracy.”

Tunnell has also completed research with UT’s Annette Strauss Institute and the J.J. Pickle Undergraduate Research Fellowship and has integrated her work as a key aspect of her degree. Before she heads to law school, she said she wants to continue her engaging work with these programs and the fun perks they provide.

“For the Tiktok stuff, we got special approval from the university to have Wi-Fi to use TikTok on the university Wi-Fi,” Tunnell said. “It’s interesting, and I’ve really enjoyed the experience. I will probably do it for the rest of my time at UT.”