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Zachary Reese is a creative technologist at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Holding a BFA in New Media and having worked as one of the early practitioners of generative art in the 1990s, he now oversees digital innovation projects, such as the recent integration of AI tooling into the Policy Center’s workflows. His work applies technology to improve public discourse and strengthen research: he develops experimental stimuli for studies, identifies and analyzes online misinformation, tracks cultural trends, and directs the creative vision and technical execution of web and data experiences for APPC initiatives such as FactCheck.org, Annenberg Classroom, and the Civics Renewal Network. By combining creative practice with advanced technical insight, he contributes to understanding how media shapes contemporary society.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson at AAAS: Bias, Credibility, and Communicating Science

Climate scientists inadvertently support the idea that they are partisans when they do not account for "inconvenient evidence," Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, told scientists and journalists at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Jose, Calif. Jamieson also said flawed studies must be retracted much more quickly.

Cigarette Warning Label

‘Emotional’ Cigarette Warning Labels Affect Smokers’ Brains and Behavior

A new study suggests that using emotionally evocative images on cigarette warning labels such as rotting teeth and a diseased lung is important in making the labels more memorable and effective in conveying the risks of smoking. The study addresses a key point raised in 2012 by the U.S. courts, which ruled that the pictorial labels were unconstitutional in part because they "did not convey any information at all."

FactCheck.org's SciCheck

FactCheck.org Introduces ‘SciCheck’ to Focus on Scientific Claims

FactCheck.org, the nonpartisan fact-checking site, has introduced a new feature, "SciCheck," to investigate science-based claims in political speech. In a blog post announcing the feature, Eugene Kiely, the director of FactCheck.org, said SciCheck "will focus exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy."

When social media leads to social action

Supermodel Petra Nemcova was vacationing in Thailand a decade ago, on Dec. 26, when it was hit by a devastating tsunami that destroyed communities in 14 countries and took the lives 230,000 people. Amy Jordan, APPC's associate director, writes in The Hill about Nemcova's work to turn tragedy and social media into social action.

New multiplayer game teaches students about the Bill of Rights

PHILADELPHIA — Just in time for Bill of Rights Day (Dec. 15), Annenberg Classroom has released the multiplayer version of a game for middle and high-school students that challenges them to apply their knowledge of the Constitution to everyday legal scenarios. Annenberg Classroom’s “That’s Your Right” game lets students compete against each other online in