The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University announced that Penn professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson is the recipient of its 2022 Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research. The award recognizes Dr. Jamieson, the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, for her numerous contributions to understanding public opinion.

In announcing the award, the center cited Dr. Jamieson’s “scholarly contributions to our understanding of political opinion, in particular its interrelation with media, in a range of contexts from electoral choice to public health and, presciently, the public’s understanding of science and its importance.”

The center also pointed to Dr. Jamieson’s long-standing research interest in the risk of misinformation in the media and its effects on American society. Her 1992 book Dirty Politics explored deceptive practices in political ads and speeches, and the way that inflammatory rhetoric succeeded in capturing media attention.

As a means to confront this deception, she co-founded the nonpartisan group FactCheck.org in 2003 at the Annenberg Public Policy Center with journalist Brooks Jackson, with the support of philanthropists Walter and Leonore Annenberg.

“For decades, Kathleen has been masterful in employing public opinion research to understand the media’s impact on ordinary Americans,” said Annenberg School Dean John L. Jackson, Jr. “Her commitment has been unwavering in the effort to help us all understand just how misinformation and disinformation threaten to undermine democracy.”