I'm a Ph.D. candidate in the Government Department at Harvard University and an affiliate of the Center for American Political Studies and the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. My research interests center on how public perceptions of the media -- including the professional norms and news-gathering procedures adopted by journalists -- shape political attitudes and behavior, as well as susceptibility to mis- and disinformation. As part of my dissertation research, I'm critically reexamining the origins and evolution of American journalism's norm of objectivity with an emphasis on the political forces that shaped its development and subsequent contestation. I hope this work can contribute to scholarly understanding of dwindling trust in journalism specifically and public institutions more broadly.

After graduating from Cornell University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in May 2014, I worked as an environmental organizer in New Jersey and Maryland and directed a GOTV canvass office in Colorado during the 2014 midterms. From 2015 through 2020, I worked at POLITICO, most recently as a senior web editor overseeing a team of copy editors and digital producers. While working as a journalist, I completed my M.A. in Media and Strategic Communications at The George Washington University. At GW, I wrote a masters thesis on how the growing popularity of the so-called "prosperity gospel" in the United States affects political attitudes and participation. 

When I'm not hunched over my laptop, I like to play piano, cook Mediterranean food, and go on long runs. I currently split time between Cambridge, MA, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where my lovely wife Ashley works as a Foreign Service Officer. We have two adorable tortoiseshell cats.

I can be reached at dbeavers@g.harvard.edu.