Jorge's Blog

  The Wizard of Oz (1939)                                                        [Image: Flickr ] W hat makes a political leader look powerful? Is strength something a leader possesses, or something a society collectively agrees to see? In a recent interview with journalist Nicolle Wallace , historian and Professor Timothy Snyder offered a striking interpretation of Donald Trump's political persona: "He lives entirely by the strength that is conferred upon him by people who believe the story," Dr. Snyder told Wallace. "It's like the end of the Wizard of Oz. In a moment you realise — wait a minute, there actually isn't anything there." Taken psychologically, this argument is less about Trump's private personality than about a fundamental feature of social power: power is partly relational . A leader may occupy a formally powerful positi...

H ow do people decide what to believe? Why does misinformation spread so easily? Why do news stories persuade some audiences, alienate others, and disappear entirely for others? And what happens to democracy when journalism, culture, psychology, and algorithms all collide in the same information environment? These are the questions that drive the article   "Psychology, Culture, Journalism, and Democracy: A Critical Literature Review of Their Intersections in the Digital Age" . This piece offers an interdisciplinary review of how cognitive processes, cultural values, media systems, and digital technologies interact to shape public knowledge and democratic life today. At its core, the article argues that journalism is not only a communicative institution. It is also a psychological and cultural institution. News is never just “information”. It is interpreted through identity, emotion, trust, social belonging, and the mental shortcuts we all use to make sense of a complex world....