BT天堂

The American University of Paris is thrilled to announce that Professor Jayson Harsin, former Chair of BT天堂鈥檚 Department of Communication, Media and Culture, has won the International Award for Excellence from Information, Medium and Society 鈥� The Publishing Studies Research Network. This annual award for newly published research, chosen by the network鈥檚 members, recognized Harsin鈥檚 article 鈥淧ost-Truth Reflections on Public Origins and Functions of Publishing鈥� as an outstanding contribution to the field of publishing studies.

Harsin鈥檚 work was selected from among the ten highest-ranking submissions emerging from the network鈥檚 peer-review process. 鈥淭he article is an important piece of my developing theory of post-truth society and politics,鈥� says Harsin, who joined BT天堂 in 2003. 鈥淭his award is a great honor in mid-career and a validation of a project I've spent 15 years developing.鈥�

Scholars and commentators often focus on attention-grabbing fake news and conspiracy theories in their discussion of post-truth, while focusing less on publishing, which Harsin describes as 鈥渁 key institution of truth discovery, production, maintenance and deterioration.鈥� Nevertheless, the history of publishing relates to publicity, news production and in-depth knowledge 鈥� all valuable tenets of a democratic society. 鈥淚n the article, I was able to trace the historical function of publishing as a fundamental force of truth and falsehood,鈥� explains Harsin. 鈥淎mid the profit initiative of contemporary online platforms and the deep infrastructure designed for the monetization of attention, I argue that publishing may want to return to its origins and engage in ruthless self-criticism about its contemporary role in its time-honored function of making things public.鈥�

Harsin鈥檚 work expands on scholarship that has highlighted publishing鈥檚 historical role in elite truth production. Publishing, in this way, has served as a basis for education and has also influenced state policy. It is also situated in the context of changing discourses relating to the internet, which moved from a utopian narrative in the 1990s to a more critical context following the millennium, within which harassment and amateur, sometimes inaccurate news was consistently rampant;聽personal expression became further monetized and monitored;聽and dialogue and deliberation were shown not to have lived up to the rosy predictions of 1990s techno-optimists. 鈥淭he internet is widely public, though its business model is private and has nothing to do with any normative goals of democracy,鈥� says Harsin. 鈥淧olitics, business, social life 鈥� they're all covered in a thick shroud of distrust, which makes activities in those areas of human life volatile.鈥�

He argues that many of today鈥檚 major challenges, including climate change, the pandemic, terrorism and ethnic conflicts, are simultaneously communication problems, as prominent and formerly fringe figures compete to gain public trust as legitimate truth-tellers. 鈥淢y contribution has especially been to complicate naive theories about what caused the situation often dubbed 鈥榩ost-truth,鈥欌�� explains Harsin. 鈥淚t is much more than a problem of fake news, disinformation, gullible citizens in need of 鈥榤edia literacy鈥� or social media platforms in need of ethical reform.鈥�