Northwestern in the Media

Your colleagues in the news

Check out the top-reaching stories of academic impact in traditional media. Metrics draw from English-language print, broadcast and online global media outlets.

Top stories (May 9-15)

• Drs. Robert Murphy, Marc Sala and Elizabeth McNally discuss KP.2, the so-called “flirt” variant of COVID-19 that shows potential for higher infectivity and immune evasion. They were cited in 84 stories for a reach of 9.2 million. Top outlets include The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

• Nathan Walter discusses concerns about misinformation's impact on the 2024 election and explores effective strategies for correcting falsehoods without reinforcing them. Walter was cited in 67 stories for a reach of 7.2 million. Top outlets include National Public Radio.

• Jerry Goldman and the Knight Lab bring to life the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. the Board of Education in the voices of the original figures who changed American history using voice-cloning technology combined with actor performances. Goldman was cited in 162 stories for a reach of 5.6 million. Top outlets include The Washington Post, the Associated Press, U.S News & World Report and ABC News.

*To allow time for data processing and validation, the reporting period for top stories and quantitative media metrics runs Thursday-Wednesday.

In the Spotlight

Read in-depth coverage of Northwestern work and research.

America’s billionaires are really going to hate this new Senate bill

From Mother Jones

The Senate introduced a bill that would prevent America’s wealthiest families from using legal mechanisms such as GRATs to avoid taxes —  the most recent in a string of legislative efforts to curb wealth concentration practices. Weinberg’s Jeffrey Winters discusses how the practice has persisted since ancient times, often requiring physical might and coercion to maintain.  

COVID-19 led to changing views on wearable tech, Northwestern study finds

From CBS Chicago

New research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic altered perspectives on health monitoring technology, with people in underserved communities becoming increasingly open to wearable technology such as smartwatches and heart rate monitors. Lead researcher, McCormick Ph.D. student Stefany Cruz tells CBS Chicago the study aims to understand local communities' perceptions of wearable devices, identify adoption barriers and determine design requirements to make future devices more equitable. 

Brain's 'food smell' circuitry might drive overeating

From HealthDay

A new study finds that connections between the regions of the brain that process smell and motivate behavior affect appetite, possibly contributing to overeating when these circuits malfunction. Feinberg co-author Guangyu Zhou suggests that hunger amplifies the allure of food smells, while disruptions in brain circuits may make food rewarding even when full. Feinberg’s Christina Zelano emphasizes the importance of understanding these brain processes to develop treatments for overeating. 

NU Voices

Read perspectives from Northwestern faculty in national media.

GPTs for scholars: Enablers of shoddy research

From Kristi Holmes and Mohammad Hosseini, Inside Higher Education

In an essay about the impact of large language models, such as ChatGPT, on research, Feinberg’s Mohammad Hosseini and Kristi Holmes write in Inside Higher Education, “To appropriately address these gaps, we need further assessment of these tools’ veracity, the development of guidelines and best practices for their ethical use, and meaningful training for researchers. Ultimately, a range of interventions are required to prevent GPTs from spreading misinformation, pseudoscience and biased views that will undermine norms of research and ultimately erode trust in science.”  

President Joe Biden was right to pause bomb shipment to Israel

From Storer H. Rowley, the Chicago Tribune

“Israelis are still understandably traumatized by the horrors of Oct. 7, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Palestinians are reeling from the death and destruction wrought by Israel’s retaliation. A cease-fire, the release of the hostages and the full resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza should be the priority now — not heavy bombs,” Medill’s Storer H. Rowley writes in the Chicago Tribune. 

To prevent Georgia going down Putin’s path, sanction the country’s Russian puppets

From Ian Kelly, The Hill

“Real costs must be imposed. The United States and European Union should immediately impose sanctions on those responsible for using threats and violence against those who want Georgia to join the democratic West. They should begin with the oligarch Ivanishvili, who is seeking to seize all the reins of power and thwart the Georgian people’s aspirations. Doing so may be the only way to stop the country’s rapid slide into an authoritarian regime modeled on Putin’s Russia,” Weinberg Ambassador in Residence Ian Kelly writes in The Hill.  

About

About the Northwestern in the Media briefing

This weekly newsletter serves as a resource for faculty and communications staff, sharing news opportunities and highlighting faculty and University successes in traditional media. It also provides communications tools such as media training resources and announcements about upcoming sessions.

By providing these resources, we hope to help faculty show their expertise to a national and international audience as well as recognize those who are making an impact.

We welcome your feedback on this and all of our communications tools. You can reach us any time at media@northwestern.edu.