October 20th, 2026

Stephen Prochaska is a PhD candidate in the Information School working with the Center for an Informed Public (CIP) at the University of Washington. His expertise focuses on understanding how digital collective sensemaking is manipulated to disseminate and reproduce propaganda and disinformation around U.S. elections. He examines how online audiences collaborate with political elites and digital influencers to assign meaning to ambiguous events, and how initial interpretations are guided and interrupted by propagandists who leverage historical narratives of online communities. Outside of academic publications, his work has been featured in MSNBC/MSNOW, the Spokesman Review, HuffPost, and Deutschlandradio, among other outlets.