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Brian Ott on Muck Rack

Brian Ott

United States
As seen in: The New York Times, Business Insider, Color Research & Application, USA Today, Wiley Online Library, Newsweek, MDPI, The Conversation, The Hill, Phys.org and
Covers:  rhetoric, communication, politics, Twitter, social media
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The Digital Mind: How Computers (Re)Structure Human Consciousness

The Digital Mind: How Computers (Re)Structure Human Consciousness

MDPI — Technologies of communication condition human sense-making. They do so by creating the social environment we inhabit and extending their structural biases and logics through human use. As such, this essay inquires into the prevailing habits of mind in the digital era.
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Opinion | I Studied Trump's Twitter Use for Six Years. Prepare for the Worst.

Opinion | I Studied Trump's Twitter Use for Six Years. Prepare for the Worst.

The New York Times — Elon Musk's decision to activate Donald Trump's account is a dangerous one.
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Look at 3 enduring stories Americans tell about guns to understand the debate over them

Look at 3 enduring stories Americans tell about guns to understand the debate over them

The Conversation — The ways Americans talk about firearms is full of contradictions, two communication scholars explain - and that powerfully shapes the country's approach to gun policy.
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Democracy in Trump era is dying tweet by tweet and we won't see the big picture for years

Democracy in Trump era is dying tweet by tweet and we won't see the big picture for years

USA Today — Trump's fractured rhetoric is like the dots in a pointillist painting. By the time the microbursts come into focus, America may be unrecognizable. In the late 1800s, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed an innovative painting technique that came to be known as pointillism.
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Why the media should ignore Trump live-tweeting the Democratic primary debates | Opinion

Why the media should ignore Trump live-tweeting the Democratic primary debates | Opinion

Newsweek — The mainstream news media has few harsher critics than President Trump, who frequently derides them as "fake news" and "the enemy of the people." More recently, Trump has fixated on calling the news media "corrupt." In the past two weeks, for instance, the president has employed the term "corrupt" nearly two dozen times on Twitter alone.
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Stupid, incompetent, racist, loser: Do Trump's Twitter insults project his own faults? | Opinion

Stupid, incompetent, racist, loser: Do Trump's Twitter insults project his own faults? | Opinion

Newsweek — Donald Trump's propensity for ridiculing his opponents (both real and imagined) is well known to even the most casual observer. He genuinely seems to delight in name calling, belittling, and demeaning rhetoric, and like most bullies he rarely passes on the opportunity to denigrate his foes.
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Who's done more damage to America, Fox News or Twitter? | Opinion

Who's done more damage to America, Fox News or Twitter? | Opinion

Newsweek — In a May 22 interview with CNN Business, Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter, noted that despite President Trump's habitual use of Twitter to spread lies and disinformation, the social media platform was not nearly as dangerous as Fox News. As Williams explained, "The vast majority of the electorate is not on Twitter reading Trump's tweets and being convinced by that.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is schooling Trump on how to do Twitter | Opinion

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is schooling Trump on how to do Twitter | Opinion

Newsweek — Every medium or technology of communication has its own unique structural biases. Because of these biases, some media are better suited than others for achieving particular communication goals. While texting is a great way to alert a friend that you are running late, for instance, it is a pretty lousy way to conduct an in-depth job interview.
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The three traits of a Donald Trump tweetstorm | Opinion

The three traits of a Donald Trump tweetstorm | Opinion

Newsweek — A sort of climatological relation exists between negative news stories about President Donald Trump and the frequency and intensity of his Twitter use: The more ominous the news atmosphere is for him, the more likely we are to see a presidential tweetstorm.
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Donald Trump really is 'crying out' for impeachment. It's the ultimate victim card.

Donald Trump really is 'crying out' for impeachment. It's the ultimate victim card.

USA Today — Impeachment would help Trump paint himself as a victim of the system he oversees. Voters must reject this dangerous, self-serving rhetoric in 2020. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's concerned for President Donald Trump's well-being. "I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference.
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Donald Trump's rhetoric didn't cause Christchurch shootings, but it sure invited it

Donald Trump's rhetoric didn't cause Christchurch shootings, but it sure invited it

USA Today — Donald Trump invites us to follow our worst impulses. He invites us to be our worst selves. As someone who has spent his entire professional life studying rhetoric, I can confidently say that President Donald Trump's rhetoric did not cause the horrific terrorist attack on two mosques in New Zealand last week that left 50 people dead.
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President Donald Trump or President Sean Hannity? Fox News host has dangerous influence.

President Donald Trump or President Sean Hannity? Fox News host has dangerous influence.

USA Today — Is there anyone who believes Trump is the one telling Hannity what to say? He has become a mouthpiece for Fox News generally and Hannity specifically. After spending two years carefully studying President Donald Trump's rhetoric - listening to his speeches, watching videos of his political rallies, and analyzing his tweets - I came to one unambiguous conclusion: Sean Hannity is the most powerful and dangerous person in America.
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