Alec Cowan
Stories
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The Record
The misinformation we can expect to see on Election Day 2020 – and what you can do about it
As the election draws closer, beware the posts of the friend-of-a-friend. That’s just one of the tips Jevin West, who’s head of UW’s Center for an Informed Public, had to impart on how to combat disinformation and misinformation around the 2020 election.
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The Record
It's getting harder to trust anything online. Is that a bug, or a feature?
Thanks to a proliferation of news hubs and social platforms, our world as guided by the internet is more individualized than ever. While sifting through the noise, is there somewhere we can all trust is true and accurate?
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The Record
Like wildfire: how misinformation spreads during a crisis
When Washington and Oregon's historic wildfires began sweeping over the state, rumors of their origin began circulating online. Was it anti-fascists? The Proud Boys? Since the beginning, officials have faced an uphill battle in controlling fact vs. fiction.
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The Record
It's been four years – what have we learned in the struggle against misinformation?
Russian troll farms, psychoanalytic data-firms and syndicated media companies all want a piece of your attention this election season. But don't worry – there are ways we can all fight back.
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KUOW Newsroom
Denial is ‘the most dangerous thing of all’ when facing a virus
Voices of the Pandemic features people in the Seattle area who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak.
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KUOW Newsroom
I had Covid-19. My body shook, 'discharging the collective terror' of us all
Penelope Bell is a Seattle-area resident and a leadership coach for entrepreneurs. At 60, she’s also a survivor of Covid-19. The following is a transcript of portions of a video Bell recorded about her experience falling ill and recovering. It’s been edited down with permission.
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KUOW Newsroom
It takes a lot of people to keep a hospital running
Voices of the pandemic features people in the Seattle area who are on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak.
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KUOW Newsroom
Life with a newborn during the coronavirus pandemic
Melissa Santos is a Seattle journalist and a new mom. She gave birth as the coronavirus began to spread in Washington state.
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The Record
What are the true costs of going cashless?
Some modern customers can remember the days in line at a grocery store and seeing someone ahead of you take out the dreaded checkbook. That checkbook meant something. I meant more waiting as the person filled it out, signed it, handed it over for it to be inspected. Perhaps their ID had to be documented for extra security. It was a time-sucking pain. But some see using cash as the modern equivalent of this consumer pet peeve – good old green money. It turns out, cash is no longer king, it’s an inconvenience.
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SoundQs
How prohibition forever changed policing in Seattle
On a recent SoundQs segment we learned about historic bootlegger Roy Olmstead. Today we do a deep dive on another larger-than-life figure from that time, black business owner Doc Hamilton. Both men dealt in illegal alcohol, but had wholly different experiences with the temperance movement and the law.