Benjamin Toff

Survey Associate, Methodology Pew Research Center Organization Overview Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts publi...

Exciting news! We just posted an opening for a Survey Associate on @pewresearch.org's Methods team! This is an amazing opportunity for someone relatively early in their career to join what is, IMO, the most fun methods team in the business. Full description at the link below.

Share your experiences with ICE in Minnesota -- Call for research participants Objective: To learn about how Operation Metro Surge influences the political actions and attitudes of Twin Cities residents Who can participate? You may be eligible if you are 18 years or older and currently live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area What does participation involve? Participants may be asked to complete a short online survey and/or take part in a one-hour interview about their experiences and perspectives. Participation is confidential and will be compensated. Questions? Contact Dr. Geneva Cole genevacole@arizona.edu Take the screening survey here: https://bit.ly/3OjV3nA This research is being conducted by Dr. Geneva Cole, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona. This research is approved by U of A IRB #00007587

I’m recruiting Minnesotans for a confidential study about experiences during ICE Operation Metro Surge that includes both surveys and interviews. Please share widely!

Calling all Minnesota college journalists: Applications for the 2026 student scholarship are now open and will be accepted until May 15. This year, MNSPJ will award one $2,000 scholarship to a student pursuing a career in broadcast, print, online or visual journalism. Find out more here: MNSPJ.ORG

Fascinating piece from @jayboller.bsky.social at @racketmn.com on the live streamers and creators who have been a critical part of the story in Minnesota and the increasingly blurry boundaries between journalists, protestors, activists, and citizen observers.

Congrats @atrexler.com! There is a major disconnect between what newsrooms think people want—often based on metrics about the highly engaged audiences they are currently serving—and what the public actually needs to make sense of political phenomena. Such important work!

Meet Minnesota Bathrobe Lady Sam Stroozas of MPR News | Minnesota Public Radio Earlier this week, an unexpected and fast-moving incident unfolded in St. Paul, Minnesota involving both federal and local law enforcement. As crowds gathered and questions mounted, one of our MPR New...

hello minnesota and beyond! thank you for your kind messages. it is very weird to be the news when you cover the news. i love this beautiful state and journalism, and i am hopeful for better days. but we will be forever changed bc of the last two months.

Screenshot of a Washington Post article about Gallup's decision to discontinue presidential job approval polling after nearly 90 years.

"The firm that pioneered political polling will no longer measure presidential job approval ratings, leaving Americans with a dimmer view into our politics." Gallup to end job approval polls after nearly 90 years. (via @sfcpoll.bsky.social @washingtonpost.com) www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Lots more in the report itself. This is one a few projects we collaborated on with newsrooms over the last year. We’ll be publishing more of this work in the coming months.

Reaching beyond that likely requires strategic partnerships with outside organizations, focusing on distinct topics or speakers, as well as sustained and ongoing follow-through with relevant audience segments groups beyond the event itself.

Bottom line is public events hold a lot of potential for deepening trust—at least among those who take the time to attend them—but reaching audiences beyond those who are already engaged with news can often be challenging. Event attendees tend to be a specific type with time and resources available.

In collaboration with @texastribune.org with support from the Alliance for Trust in Media, last year we surveyed past attendees of Tribune events and conducted follow-up in-depth interviews to better understand who attends events, why, and what they get out of the experience.

With co-authors @meagandoll.bsky.social & @cydneygrannan.bsky.social we explore these questions in a Minnesota Journalism Center report we published this week: hsjmc.umn.edu/news/2026-02...

Many news organizations hope to expand the reach of their journalism through sponsoring public events—showing up in person in the communities they serve as a way to build trust and broaden their appeal. But do they? Who do events reach? And how do they impact attitudes towards news?

Internships Our 2026 summer internship program will be open to applications January 16-February 11, 2026. Our paid summer internship program is a learning and

Attention undergrads! @pewresearch.org has more than a dozen paid internships for rising juniors and seniors this summer in Washington, DC.

Find more info here: www.pewresearch.org/about/intern...

Apply here: pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...

One reason Minneapolis remains in the world's eye is we have one of the most robust & independent media ecosystems remaining in the country. You all need this...and more! @mprnews.org @startribune.com @sahanjournal.bsky.social @minnesotareformer.com @minnpost.bsky.social @racketmn.com etc.

DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.

BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.

Many congratulations to @hubbardschoolumn.bsky.social postdoc @meagandoll.bsky.social! Colorado’s journalism school is getting a fantastic new colleague and researcher!

Incidentally, the Minnesota Star Tribune is hiring a sports editor and investigative reporter. Say goodbye to the backwater of DC and come to where the action is!

recruiting2.ultipro.com/STA1013/JobB...

Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort arrested after covering Minnesota church protest It was not immediately clear what charges that Minnesota independent journalist Georgia Fort and former CNN anchor Don Lemon were facing for the Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church.

“As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago, and now I’m being arrested for that,” Georgia Fort said in the video. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

💬Journalists covering protests: Use CPJ's WhatApp chatbot to access all of our physical, digital, and psychosocial #JournalistSafety resources.

📲 Add CPJ’s chatbot using the number +1 206-590-6191, text the number “Hello” and select “protest safety resources.”

Does anyone have recommendations for how to take care of a baby during a period of intense democratic instability? Would appreciate suggestions…

“Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms—including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights. These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed, and they must be respected and protected at all times.”

News audiences are very clear that they demand and expect media orgs to disclose virtually any use of AI even for fairly basic tasks (translation, transcription, summarizing). hsjmc.umn.edu/news/2025-04...

Ordinarily, one might expect the federal government to abide by stricter standards…

To encourage reuse of our data, Pew Research Center, with support from the John Templeton Foundation, invites researchers to submit proposals for new research publications that use one or more of the following datasets (collectively, Datasets) from the Global Religious Futures (GRF) project: Global Restrictions on Religion 2007-2022 dataset. This cumulative dataset includes measures of government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion in nearly 200 countries and territories. Spring 2024 Survey. This dataset includes measures of religion and spirituality in 35 countries. (Comparable data was also collected in 2023 and 2024 for the United States. The downloadable materials which accompany the international dataset include additional information about U.S. data.) Dataset of Global Religious Composition Estimates for 2010 and 2020. This dataset includes estimates of the size of seven major religious groups in more than 200 countries and territories. We encourag

Please share: Pew Research Center will provide $3,000 each for 19 new papers using our recent global datasets. We encourage reuse of our Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures data!
https://www.pewresearch.org/2026/01/16/seeking-research-using-recent-pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-datasets/

Fear factor: Intimidation becomes a calling card as Twin Cities ICE surge widens Six weeks into the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, observers say there are signs that federal agents are employing violence more frequently and with little apparent restraint against citiz...

Six weeks into the immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities and observers say the violence employed by ICE agents is getting worse. While this kind of response isn't new to immigrants, the difference is that many ICE observers are also having their basic constitutional rights violated.

Minneapolis Knows How to Resist This Violence From George Floyd to Renee Good, the city has become all too familiar with fatal violence by law enforcement—and it knows exactly how to respond.

I tried to turn my rage yesterday into something that brings us some light. For @newrepublic.com, I wrote about how 2020 prepared Minneapolis for the current crisis of Trump's DHS. newrepublic.com/article/2050...

Parents stand watch for ICE outside Minnesota schools Some Twin Cities schools are responding to rumors about ICE agents on school properties.

“I’ve lived through COVID. I’ve lived through George Floyd. Now I’m living through this going on right now,” said Minneapolis high school senior Dulce, who asked that her last name not be used. “It’s a lot of piling up emotions.”

www.startribune.com/parents-stan...

This description of Minneapolis is still pretty apt: "a Yankee with a small Puritan head, an open prairie heart, and a great, big Scandinavian body"

White text on a green card that says: Statement from the Minnesota Star Tribune: We are currently monitoring a coordinated online disinformation campaign incorrectly identifying the ICE agent involved in yesterday’s shooting. To be clear, the ICE agent has no known affiliation with the Star Tribune. We encourage people looking for factual information reported and written by trained journalists, not bots, to follow and subscribe to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Statement from the Minnesota Star Tribune:

The Twin Cities' robust media ecosystem that is able to immediately push big local news national