“Stopping Online Vitriol at the Roots.” 

Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, was featured in The New York Times story “Stopping Online Vitriol at the Roots.” Phillips, an expert on disinformation and political communications, says that the influx of information during the 2020 election is overwhelming for many. To best understand the information we are digesting, Phillips says it is important to think about all the forces that contribute to the news. “The more information pollution there is in the landscape, the less functional our democracy is. If you feel that everything is terrible and everyone lies, then people don’t want to engage in civic discourse,” says Phillips.