Mission Statement

The Penn Center on Media, Technology and Democracy is committed to independent research on the information ecosystem and its impact on democracy.

Our mission is to advance our collective understanding of the information landscape through cutting-edge science—then leverage that research to foster a more informed society and strengthen the foundations of democracy. We focus on the media organizations and the online platforms, the incentives and the algorithms, that determine which ideas and beliefs spread, and which don’t. The Center’s faculty and scholars are distinguished by their use of emerging technology for data-driven research of the information ecosystem, including novel data collections, large-scale cloud computing, and innovative applications of AI.

The Center is also the interdisciplinary hub for media, technology, and democracy scholarship and impact at the University of Pennsylvania, bringing together dozens of scholars across seven schools and centers:

• The School of Engineering and Applied Science
• The Penn Carey Law School
• The Annenberg School for Communication
• The Annenberg Public Policy Center
• The Wharton School
• The School Arts and Sciences
• The School of Social Policy and Practice

“There is a critical societal need to better understand—and respond to—the way media and information technologies mediate and even influence global conversations,” said J. Larry Jameson, Penn’s Interim President. “Championing truth and upholding democracy are important elements of Penn’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice.”