Scott Althaus
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salthaus.bsky.social
Scott Althaus
@salthaus.bsky.social

Cline Center Director, professor of political science and communication at Illinois, current data scientist, former Tower Rat, swore an oath that doesn’t expire.

www.clinecenter.illinois.edu

Scott Althaus is a professor of political science and of communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the director of the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research at the University. .. more

Political science 37%
Communication & Media Studies 36%
It is finally finished and released! I was proud to be a member of the Task Force on 2024 Pre-Election Polling, and to play just a small role in producing this report.
Here is the report:
aapor.org/wp-content/u...
And here is the Executive Summary: aapor.org/wp-content/u...
aapor.org

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

New Pub @socialmedia-soc.bsky.social 📢

With multiplatform #socialmedia use on the rise, we (w/ @prowag.bsky.social ) introduce a two-step approach to investigate how networks across platforms conjointly & distinctly relate to incidental exposure.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
We've just published the most comprehensive study of news creators to date covering 24 countries. Authored by Nic Newman @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social @mitalilive.bsky.social @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it identifies the most mentioned in each country

📱Report buff.ly/bL6y8Hj
🧵6 findings in thread

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

Join us on October 30th at 2:30 pm for the Annual Richard G. and Carol J. Cline Symposium. Experts will discuss “Accountable Policing after the SAFE-T Act” in a roundtable on Zoom. RSVP here: buff.ly/lKLRF2L

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

US soybean farmers have to be one of the strongest Trump-voting constituencies in the country.
A thread on how people's use of generative AI has changed in the last year - based on survey data from 6 countries (🇬🇧🇺🇸🇫🇷🇩🇰🇯🇵🇦🇷 ).

First, gen AI use has grown rapidly.

Most people have tried out gen AI at least once (61%), and 34% now use it on a weekly basis - roughly doubling from 18% a year ago.

That Memorial Day I decided to spend a few hours of internet searching to honor his memory by seeing what I could find out about his last mission.

And I found out more than I expected. But that's for the next post... (4/4)

My family's journey started on Memorial Day 2013 when I remembered back when I was a boy visiting a family burial plot with a large stone with the image of a B-24 bomber engraved on it. I vaguely remembered that all our family ever knew was that he'd been shot down somewhere over New Guinea. (3/)

This month is Project Recover's "Mission Miles" fundraiser that aims to raise awareness of the more than 81,000 American families like mine who have a relative who is Missing In Action.

If you'd like to donate to this effort, please follow this link:

runsignup.com/heaven-can-w...

(2/)
Mission Miles 2025
What is Mission Miles 2025? * From September 1st to September 30th, walk, hike, run, ruck, or bike 100 miles in honor of America’s missing-in-action (MIA) service members who have yet to return hom...
runsignup.com

Today is POW/MIA Remembrance Day in the US, a day set aside for remembering those who gave their lives for our country in wartime and are still Missing In Action.

As most of you know, I'm a volunteer for Project Recover, a nonprofit that finds and repatriates the remains of American MIAs. (1/)

His homecoming was made possible because of the work of Project Recover, a nonprofit devoted to finding and repatriating the remains of Americans missing in action from past wars. They found my relative's plane under more than 200 feet of water back in 2017.

www.projectrecover.org
Home
Project Recover is a collaborative effort to find and repatriate American MIAs for their recognition and closure for families and the Nation.
www.projectrecover.org

This coming Friday 9/19 is national POW/MIA Recognition Day in the US. One of my relatives was MIA from WW2 until earlier this year: this past May I and other relatives buried the remains of 2Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, Jr. in Livermore CA 81 years after his death.

He is missing no longer. He is home.

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

Important issue: when journalists’ visa are reduced in length it creates uncertainty, chilling effects, and ultimately worse reporting from within the US.

That might be the purpose. But it is hugely problematic.

wan-ifra.org/2025/09/dont...
Global news media call on U.S. to scrap new visa proposal
2025-09-11. Dozens of major news and journalist organisations worldwide are urging the U.S. government to drop a proposal that would drastically shorten the time foreign correspondents can live and wo...
wan-ifra.org

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

New Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent training to go from 18 weeks to 8 weeks, and dropping the degree requirement?
If the plan is to make the FBI a laughing stock, this is the way to do it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/u...
F.B.I. Plans to Lower Recruiting Standards, Alarming Agents
www.nytimes.com
Donald Kinder Receives the 2025 Ithiel de Sola Pool Award

The Ithiel de Sola Pool Award and Lectureship is presented triennially by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor a scholar whose research explores a broad range of fields pursued by Ithiel de Sola Pool; including…
Donald Kinder Receives the 2025 Ithiel de Sola Pool Award
The Ithiel de Sola Pool Award and Lectureship is presented triennially by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor a scholar whose research explores a broad range of fields pursued by Ithiel de Sola Pool; including political theory, political behavior, political communication, science and technology policy, and international affairs.  Professor Donald Kinder will deliver the Pool Lecture on Friday, September 12th at 2pm PDT as part of the 
politicalsciencenow.com

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

More UChicago Ph.D. Programs Pause Admissions in Humanities, Social Sciences
More UChicago Ph.D. Programs Will Pause Admissions
The Arts and Humanities dean said “nearly all” faculty leaders preferred “a broader pause for the division.” Some social sciences programs also aren't accepting new students.
www.insidehighered.com

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

Traffic for the world’s top-50 news websites swung sharply into the red in July, according to Press Gazette’s exclusive traffic ranking pressgazette.co.uk/media-audien...
Top 50 English-language news sites in the world: All but four report traffic declines in July
Press Gazette lists the top 50 most popular news websites in the world. Monthly updated top 50 listing based on data provided by SimilarWeb.
pressgazette.co.uk
Next week I'll begin my fifteenth year as a political communication professor.

I wrote up some thoughts on what it's like trying to teach this subject while everything falls apart.

open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
What it's like being a political communication professor right now
Misgivings, Grievances, and Thanks as I look ahead to my fifteenth year.
open.substack.com

Illinois political science has two TT faculty searches open, one in US political institutions and the other in political behavior. Come join our faculty!

American Political Institutions: illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Political Behavior: illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Assistant Professor- American Political Institution- Department of Political Science
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

Our latest release of SPOTLITE data offers for the first time a comprehensive picture of the demographic characteristics of civilians involved in police uses of lethal force on a national scale, including incidents without lethal outcomes.
APSA Statement on Executive Action Impacts on Research Funding, Data Availability and Academic Freedom

The American Political Science Association (APSA) is deeply concerned about recent executive actions that have had troubling implications for research funding and academic freedom. In January,…
APSA Statement on Executive Action Impacts on Research Funding, Data Availability and Academic Freedom
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is deeply concerned about recent executive actions that have had troubling implications for research funding and academic freedom. In January, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the termination of federal support for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. This was followed by a memorandum to temporarily pause a wide range of federal grants, loans, and other forms of financial assistance, to allow for a review of federal grants and awards and to enforce compliance with the executive order.
politicalsciencenow.com

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

Examine this chart from @niemanlab.org. It ranks the top 50 LOCAL news sites by number of monthly visits.

You'd expect LA Times to be high on the list. But The Post-Standard in Syracuse, NY? Let @joshuabenton.com explain. And see where your local newspaper falls.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/how-...

Reposted by Scott L. Althaus

So the UN Global Risks Report is out...
& it lists Mis- and Disinformation as the biggest risk we face.
unglobalriskreport.org

Listen... I'm a mis- and Disinformation kinda guy, meaning I worry about this professionally.
But there is no way this issue should be all the way up there!
Plus...

Residents of every county in the United States can explore SPOTLITE incident records from their own communities to better understand local trends in police uses of lethal force.

clinecenter.illinois.edu/spotlite

Big news from the @cline-center.bsky.social: police uses of lethal force in the US dropped 24% from 2021 to 2023, with 2023 having the smallest number of lethal force incidents involving police since 2015.

news.illinois.edu/research-pol...
Research: Police uses of lethal force dropped dramatically in US from 2021-23 – News Bureau
news.illinois.edu
We are happy to share the newest issue of the Political Communication Report! 🎉

This issue brings together six contributions on teaching political communication and also features interviews with recent award winners. 🧵

Read the full issue here: politicalcommunication.org/issue/summer...
Summer 2025 – Issue 31 “Teaching Political Communication” – PolComm
politicalcommunication.org
ICYMI: Annenberg alum @dannagal.bsky.social's powerful essay in @nytopinion.nytimes.com:

“Looking to magic and intuition for agency in a moment when science and medicine are frustrating is normal and human. But I worry that these normal human impulses are being exploited by powerful people."
Opinion | Holy Water Couldn’t Save My Husband. MAHA Wouldn’t Have, Either.
www.nytimes.com
We are pleased to announce that Benjamin Toff, Ruth Palmer, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen's AVOIDING THE NEW is the Winner of the 2025 Hazel Gaudet-Erskine Best Book Award from the International Journal of Press/Politics. buff.ly/KzI2QdM @polcomm.bsky.social #IJPP
Are you:

✅ A young scholar in econ, poli sci, or law
✅ Working on institutions, broadly defined
✅ Interested in spending a week in Italy with amazing faculty

If so, please apply to this year’s Coase Institute Workshop! It’s a transformative experience for many, and always fun. I’ll be there.
Ronald Coase Institute: What's New
www.coase.org

This Memorial Day, 81 years after the death and disappearance of my relative 2Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, I'll be gathering with family and friends to bury his remains. Grateful for all those who remembered the fallen in ways that brought us to this place of closure.

news.illinois.edu/because-amer...
Because America never forgot – News Bureau
news.illinois.edu