Dean Roderick Hart and Dr. Talia Stroud attended the National Communication Association Conference November 15-18 in Orlando, Florida.  Dean Hart presented research from the Campaign Mapping project related to the 2012 presidential race.  Using his DICTION analysis program, Dean Hart is able to capture differences in tone among the candidates.  For example, he analyzed differences in President Obama’s tone in the first presidential debate compared to previous appearances.  Dr. Stroud, with former Strauss Research Assistant and current University of North Texas Assistant Professor Natasha Kovalyova, presented research demonstrating that the Institute’s Turning Points program improved students’ tolerance for debate and knowledge of the Fourth Amendment.  Research co-authored by Dr. Kelly Garrett from Ohio State University and Dr. Stroud received a Top Paper Award from the Political Communication Division at the conference.  The research found that when people have reliable information about biased media content, they do not uniformly prefer likeminded news.