Debate experts available from UW-Madison

The following University of Wisconsin–Madison experts are available to speak with reporters covering the upcoming presidential debates. The second of three debates is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. This debate will have a town-hall format with half of the questions posed by the audience, and the other half posed by the moderator.

• Barry C. Burden, professor of political science and founding director of the Elections Research Center, can comment on polling and public opinion, representation and election administration. Burden may be reached at bcburden@wisc.edu.

• Lewis A. Friedland, professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Departments of Sociology and Educational Psychology (Affiliated) and director of the Center for Communication and Democracy, is an expert on civil society, changing democratic norms and culture, social integration and how changing media structure affects people’s understanding of politics. He may be reached at 414-736-4665 or lfriedla@wisc.edu.

• Lucas Graves, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and author of “Deciding What’s True: The Rise of Political Fact-Checking in American Journalism,” can comment on fact-checking. He may be reached at lucas.graves@wisc.edu.

• Dhavan V. Shah, professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of the Mass Communication Research Center, can comment on debate dynamics, candidate nonverbal communication, vote choice, and social media. He may be reached at dshah@wisc.edu.

• Michael W. Wagner, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and author of “Political Behavior of the American Electorate,” can comment on the impact debates have on vote choice, factors that predict election results, and news coverage of the debates. He may be reached at 608-230-5725 or mwagner8@wisc.edu.

• Chris Wells, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is an expert on social media use during debates, and how people watching the debate have responded and posted. He may be reached at cfwells@wisc.edu or follow him on twitter @cfwells.