Sign in

Mike Wagner

@prowag.bsky.social
5.3K followers 850 following 474 posts

William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea, Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, U of Wisconsin-Madison. Director, Center for Communication and Civic Renewal. Inflated sense of karaoke ability. 10/10 Room Rater.

PostsRepliesMedia
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 9h
Glad to be welcomed to the occupation…
120
Reposted by Mike Wagner
UW–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication @uwsjmc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The flamingos are almost here! 🦩 Next week, support our students and share your SJMC pride. Plus, when we reach 121 gifts, Director @prowag.bsky.social will take on the Spice the Hill challenge! 🔥 Learn more and bookmark our giving page at the link below. 🔗 uwflamingos.com/campaign/jou...
013
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The All the President’s Men Ted Lasso thing is marvelous.
010
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
My mom had polio when she was five. She was living on a US military base in Japan (1947). Four kids on the base died. She was the only survivor.
1002991848
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Bieber Log, Day 5,847: Did not hear from Bieber.
240
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This election season, our team at the UW Center for an Informed Public will again be working to help people navigate the increasingly convoluted information flows surrounding U.S. Elections. Since 2020, we’ve tracked rumors about voting & election integrity. uwcip.substack.com/p/our-electi...
uwcip.substack.com
Our election rumor research work is ramping up for the 2026 U.S. midterms
Subscribe to our Election Rumor Rundowns, get in touch, and collaborate
210037
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 02/09/2026
There was no "censorship industrial compex" under the Biden administration. But the MAGA officials who continue to believe in it have done a lot of damage. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
MAGA’s Imaginary Censorship-Industrial Complex
The conspiracy theory that persists even though no evidence supports it
36644225
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I have made a terrible mistake.
1121
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I have made a terrible mistake.
1121
Reposted by Mike Wagner
UW–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication @uwsjmc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Calling all SJMC flock-stars! UW's pinkest tradition returns in one month. This year, when we receive 121 gifts, Director @prowag.bsky.social will brave the heat of four super spicy wings in an interview with our Communications Interns! Save the date and learn more: sjmc.wisc.edu/news/flock-o...
011
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The Little Chill
110
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.
data4democracy.substack.com
With Fear and Favor
Institutions don’t have courage. They have incentives.
26633227
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Charles Franklin @pollsandvotes.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
A surprise winner in a chaotic primary. charlesatpollsandvotes.substack.com/p/a-look-at-...
charlesatpollsandvotes.substack.com
A Look at 2026 Primary Polling in Wisconsin
A surprise winner in a chaotic race
184
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Those monsters at Tempur-Pedic. .
0202
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
How many absentees in Milwaukee County were cast when Crowley was out of the race? Kind of amazing that that detail may affect who wins with WI Democratic primary.
081
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Barry Burden @bcburden.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
How to pronounce those Wisconsin county names misspronouncer.com/counties/
misspronouncer.com
Counties -
Wisconsin has more than 190 cities, 400 villages, 1,000+ towns, and 1,000+ unincorporated places. Learn how to pronounce them all!
2308
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
They’ll put anyone on TV! Good job on MSNOW @bcburden.bsky.social!
0161
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
When Scott Walker first ran for governor, he dropped out to endorse the eventual nominee, running four years later and winning. David Crowley may have sped up that same process by three years and ten months by dropping out, endorsing the then frontrunner and getting back in the same race.
0352
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
And to think that I learned on my first day of grad school that it wasn’t rational to vote.
Shows a few hundred votes out of 500,000 separating two candidates
0100
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Barry Burden @bcburden.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Tiffany’s congressional voting record is pretty far to the right & his running mate is a real social conservative madison.com/news/state-r...
0158
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
One way to interpret the results as they come in here in Wisconsin is that the Marquette Law School poll hit Hong’s support and the undecideds moved in a wave to Crowley. Not sure if that’s what happened, but it is consistent with the data so far. Older folks were more likely to be undecided.
1234
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
What a remarkable primary.
030
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
New from me: More than a trillion dollars flow through the federal government in grants. We have more and more evidence that the Trump administration has been directing those grants on purely partisan grounds, denying them to blue states. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/governing-...
donmoynihan.substack.com
Governing without Accountability
Trump only wants to be President of some of America, not all of America
391802789
Reposted by Mike Wagner
John Sands @iohn.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
But there’s much more to learn from this rich survey of nearly 26,000 respondents. As with all our surveys, the full dataset is available for additonal scrutiny and analysis. Take a deeper dive here: knightfoundation.org/articles/new...
knightfoundation.org
Knight Foundation-SSRS Poll: Americans Feel Free Expression is Eroding - Knight Foundation
For more than two decades, Knight Foundation has commissioned research to better understand Americans’ lived experience with the First Amendment and free expression. As the country marks its 250th ann...
021
Reposted by Mike Wagner
John Sands @iohn.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
A new survey from @knightfoundation.org and @ssrsresearch.bsky.social reveals a disquieting decline in how free Americans feel to use the freedoms protected by the #FirstAmendment without government interference or punishment. 🧵
knightfoundation.org
Knight Foundation-SSRS Poll: Americans Feel Free Expression is Eroding - Knight Foundation
For more than two decades, Knight Foundation has commissioned research to better understand Americans’ lived experience with the First Amendment and free expression. As the country marks its 250th ann...
26149
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Russell Sage Foundation @russellsagefdn.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Why do some policies create change while others don’t? Jamila Michener suggests the answer isn’t just policy. It’s whether communities have the power to shape and sustain it. Watch here: youtu.be/gYcQFRYqE4w?...
youtu.be
Why So Many Americans Feel Disconnected From Democracy | Jamila Michener
YouTube video by Russell Sage Foundation
062
Reposted by Mike Wagner
UW–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication @uwsjmc.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This May, the Public Tech Media Lab hosted a Digital Investigations Bootcamp, the first hands-on OSINT training program in the Midwest. The bootcamp offered journalists and students the opportunity to gain hands-on practice with a variety of OSINT tools. sjmc.wisc.edu/news/public-...
111
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Excited to participate on the @aejmc panel honoring @dvshah.bsky.social’s innovative scholarship, transformative mentoring, and field building.
0102
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 25/07/2026
Admirable clarity @science.org
The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.

That’s it. That’s the story
4974912713
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The US global dominance in higher ed & scientific innovation was based on strong govt investment and an ability to attract top international talent. Trump is weakening both: "In this century, overall, the émigré fraction for U.S. Nobels in physics, chemistry and medicine now stands at 40 percent."
Last year, before flying to Stockholm to receive his Nobel Prize, Dr. Yaghi in an interview with The New York Times voiced concern about Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, saying that they endanger the nation’s system of universities, companies and governments that promote scientific excellence.
10639226
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Mass comm scholars might find parallels to thinking about the information ecology, affordances of different platforms, and institutions in this smart article/provocation.
020
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Trump just fired all three remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission, leaving the agency with no commissioners just months before the midterms
votebeat.org
Trump fires all commissioners of federal election agency
Months before the midterms, the only federal agency dedicated solely to election administration is now unable to do anything.
981680855
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Important new article about how we ought to be thinking about and conceptualizing the changing religious landscape in the U.S. from my good friend @bsteens.bsky.social and his collaborators. journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Religion Unbundled: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Paradigm for the Sociology of American Religion
022
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Important new article about how we ought to be thinking about and conceptualizing the changing religious landscape in the U.S. from my good friend @bsteens.bsky.social and his collaborators. journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Religion Unbundled: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Paradigm for the Sociology of American Religion
022
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
It is hard to put the School in better hands than with @prowag.bsky.social. Stellar scholar, empathetic, professional, outstanding mentor, forward looking, good colleague. Wishing you and the SJMC community all the best 👏🏼
121
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I’m very excited to serve the students, faculty, and staff of the SJMC! While higher ed is facing some major challenges, relentless attacks, and helpful criticism, we have major opportunities to expand our path-breaking research, innovative teaching and mentoring, and dedicated public service!
2191
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
We were excited and inspired to build off the great work of Johanna Dunaway, @joshuadarr.bsky.social and @matthewhitt.bsky.social in this new article.
071
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
🚨New research alert! Led by @jianingli.bsky.social, we published in Communication Research “Partisanship in Context: The (A)symmetric Influence of Local Newspaper Availability and Selective Exposure on Political Misperceptions in the U.S.” 1/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00936502261463581
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
132
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
🚨New research alert! Led by @jianingli.bsky.social, we published in Communication Research “Partisanship in Context: The (A)symmetric Influence of Local Newspaper Availability and Selective Exposure on Political Misperceptions in the U.S.” 1/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00936502261463581
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
132
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The Reflecting Pool contracts are just one example of a massive increase in “urgency” exception spending this year exempted from normal review. In a normal year, this would be $3-6 billion. So far in 2026, it is $28 billion, mostly in homeland security. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-the-r...
graph showing annual spending that are exempt from normal federal contracting processes
8585237
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Everybody needs to go hear Naomi Oreskes explain how Monsanto manipulated the science to obscure health concerns about Roundup — including ghost-writing papers that became touchstones in their denialism.
16398210
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
@karaswisher.bsky.social potentially of interest to you - our new article in Rogan’s audience. It’s more complicated than we think! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
The Joe Rogan Experience: Epistemic Style Over Ideological Extremity in the Manosphere
Despite increasing prominence in the contemporary media ecosystem, podcasts have attracted limited scholarly attention. This study examines audience characteristics of the most popular podcast in t...
030
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Dominik Stecuła @stecula.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Getting to work with Danna, Mike, and Dhavan was so fun and the research, imho, is pretty good too. Check it out. Hopefully first of a few from this team!
141
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Wisconsin Examiner @wisconsinexaminer.com · 25/06/2026
4 years after Dobbs, advocates clash over how far to take fight for later abortion access
buff.ly
4 years after Dobbs, advocates clash over how far to take fight for later abortion access • Wisconsin Examiner
In the four years since the Dobbs decision, a debate has emerged over expanded access to late-term abortion
132
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
🚨New research! Joe Rogan’s audience is not exactly what conventional wisdom says it is. 1/ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
The Joe Rogan Experience: Epistemic Style Over Ideological Extremity in the Manosphere
Despite increasing prominence in the contemporary media ecosystem, podcasts have attracted limited scholarly attention. This study examines audience characteristics of the most popular podcast in t...
23213
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
🚨New research! Joe Rogan’s audience is not exactly what conventional wisdom says it is. 1/ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
The Joe Rogan Experience: Epistemic Style Over Ideological Extremity in the Manosphere
Despite increasing prominence in the contemporary media ecosystem, podcasts have attracted limited scholarly attention. This study examines audience characteristics of the most popular podcast in t...
23213
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Thrilled to report our study of Rogan’s audience is published! 2 datasets. 2 different years w range of socio-demog, political, trust-oriented, & epistemic predictors. (Also: Working w @stecula.bsky.social @prowag.bsky.social & @dvshah.bsky.social was stupid fun) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
The Joe Rogan Experience: Epistemic Style Over Ideological Extremity in the Manosphere
Despite increasing prominence in the contemporary media ecosystem, podcasts have attracted limited scholarly attention. This study examines audience characteristics of the most popular podcast in t...
04821
Reposted by Mike Wagner
Center for Communication & Civic Renewal @cccr.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
CCCR has a new survey report out today: "How Americans’ Views Have Changed Under Trump" Our nat'l panel survey (Oct '24, Apr '25, May '26) investigates public mood & views on Trump policies, AI, voting restrictions, political violence, institutional trust, & more. 1/ cccr.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
cccr.wisc.edu
2387
Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
👀👇
0154