Major media outlets are increasingly blurring the line between ads and editorial content. In her forthcoming book "Content Confusion," Michelle Amazeen "takes the media to task for allowing this fox into the hen house" — via @thenation.com: @commscholar.bsky.social

📢 Excited to share that my 🌟first book talk🌟 will be with @osome.iu.edu! Join me Nov 19, 12-1 pm ET (online) as I discuss key themes from #ContentConfusion (@mitpress.bsky.social). Don’t miss this opportunity to dive deep into the challenges impacting our news media today.

In my October Director's Letter from @bucomresearch.bsky.social, I talk with Drs. @tvbookstvbooks.bsky.social & @morganweiland.bsky.social about public views on navigating governmental pressure, protecting free speech, and the future of media freedom. #FirstAmendment sites.bu.edu/crc/2025/10/...

Calling all 18-24 year-olds in Boston! 📢 Join our study on young adults’ media habits at @comatbu.bsky.social @bucomresearch.bsky.social. Your insights matter! See below to learn more & sign up. Please share with friends! #Boston #Research #MediaStudy

Glad to share my perspective in this article from @jpmjr.bsky.social about OpenAI’s Sora-2, which reportedly makes false claim videos 80% of the time. Another clear example of the rising challenge of #ContentConfusion as AI blurs fact and fiction.

Are you a student looking to further hone your #ScienceCommunication writing skills? Here's a great opportunity to check out: ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

One month until my book Content Confusion publishes on 11/18! It reveals how mainstream news & ads blur lines, fueling disinfo & shaping journalism itself. Ever noticed ads disguised as news? Share your stories! #Preorder here: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255360... #MediaTrust @mitpress.bsky.social

Glad I was able to share some thoughts w @davidingram.bsky.social on use of deepfakes. According to our recent poll w @ipsosus.bsky.social, > 4 in 5 adults in US believe we should be protected from unauthorized use of our likeness created by genAI: www.bu.edu/com/articles...

"The planned appointment was first reported by the New York Post." Wrong scoop attribution @washingtonpost.com. @oliverdarcy.bsky.social & @passantino.bsky.social at @status.news reported this weeks ago! www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

@commscholar.bsky.social's CRC x Ipsos survey discovers a vast majority of Americans support regulations for "deepfakes". Over 84% of participants agreed individuals should be protected from the unauthorized use of their voice and visual likeness in media. 🔗Full article here: tinyurl.com/3ud5sysu

Looking forward to welcoming Dr. Michael G. Elasmar as the September Colloquium Speaker @bucomresearch.bsky.social @comatbu.bsky.social on Wednesday, September 24th at 3:30.

Great programming coming up this fall at Boston University's College of Communication @comatbu.bsky.social at our Communication Research Center @bucomresearch.bsky.social! ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

AI deepfakes on social media are fueling calls for stronger protections — and a recent @comatbu.bsky.social survey shows big public support for regulation. How can we balance innovation with trust to keep online spaces safe and truthful in the AI age? www.bu.edu/com/articles...

✨Harley and I wish everyone a happy first day of school!✨

Someone should send the administration a copy of @keithob.bsky.social's book, Paradise Falls—then again, they probably won’t read it or even care. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/c...

Academic harassment:

As the 20-year anniversary of #HurricaneKatrina nears, NYTimes rolls out “never-before-seen” photos of the devastation. Then, they casually drop #sponcon from Chevron about “solving the energy puzzle.” Because what better way to honor a climate disaster than with an energy giant’s propaganda?

Wow. While I'm thrilled for The Onion (and am among its subscribers), I'm surprised that it has MORE print subscribers than @bostonglobe.com. #news

Enjoyed hearing @dougmost.bsky.social at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social discuss his new book about the amazing American feat of building the Liberty fleet of ships. 🇺🇸

Today we release BAD VAXX-a new game that PREBUNKS misinfo about vaccines. Step into the shoes of "Ann McDotal" who loves to float scary anecdotes & "Dr Forge" the pseudosciensist. We find the game boosts people's ability to better *discern* information manipulation! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The narrowing of public information—from book bans to censorship and legal pressures on media—is threatening democracy. @comatbu.bsky.social, we’re tackling this through research, education, and supporting local news. Full letter: sites.bu.edu/crc/2025/08/... #MediaLiteracy #Democracy #LocalNews

Think it's hard to distinguish editorial from ads now? Just wait until ads are blended into #AI results. @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social at @financialtimes.com reports: "Elon Musk plans to introduce advertising into the answers of X’s artificial intelligence chatbot" Grok. www.ft.com/content/3bc3...

Hmmm...just a coincidence that Pepsi is running a native ad in today's NYTimes at the same time their food reporter crowns Pepsi the winner in a blind taste test? The agenda setting effect of NA is a topic I address in my forthcoming book, Content Confusion: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255360...

📚✨ Help me choose the cover for my upcoming academic book! I’ve got three cover designs ready, and I’d love your vote on which one you like best. Feel free to share why you picked your favorite! Your input will make a big difference. Thank you! 🙏 #AcademicPublishing #BookCoverPoll #FeedbackWanted

Which book cover art do you prefer? 1️⃣ Cover A 2️⃣ Cover B 3️⃣ Cover C 📊 Show results

🚨Paper alert Are you interested in interventions against climate disinformation? In this new paper, we introduce the Climate Disinformation Corpus N = 78 real, validated climate disinformation statements that can be use as exprimental stimuli bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 1/n

For 15 years, starting in 2006, I taught a course called Entertainment and Politics. One of the themes of that class was how corporate profits and advertisers were the new agents of censorship…not wannabe autocrats like Nixon. But the news about Colbert complicates all that

Just received news that a talented student from Iran must defer starting this fall due to travel bans. So disheartening when politics block eager minds from contributing. Hoping for a better future when they can join my lab and advance important work. #AcademicTravelBan #HopeForChange

Part 1 is about "Viruses of the Mind" which reminded me of a poster I saw this spring at my physical therapist's office about "Thought Viruses." Interesting to see psychological inoculation used in this context, too.

A third text I'm previewing for my course on #InformationIntegrity is *another* book from the prolific @profsanderlinden.bsky.social - Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity.

🎙️ The Season 1 finale of The COMversation is here! In “Our Relationship w/ AI,” guests Prof. Wallace & @katycoduto.bsky.social explore how, through the @bucomresearch.bsky.social's 2024 Faculty Seed Grant, people are forming emotional bonds w/ AI like ChatGPT. 🎧 Listen now! tinyurl.com/3ucev8dt

Would you rather…. Have a spider on your face or a flying squirrel in your bathroom? Getting a Maine welcome here in the woods! 🕷️🪾🫎

Nothing like getting the run around from Amazon. 😩

Delighted to welcome 4 new tenure-track faculty to @comatbu.bsky.social’s Mass Comm, Advertising & PR Dept: Xiaoya Jiang, Susanna Lee, @morganweiland.bsky.social, & Jing Yang. Also thrilled to have @baldwin-j-a.bsky.social join as an asst. prof. in Emerging Media Studies. Excited to work together!

Congratulations to @commscholar.bsky.social, @arunimakrishna.bsky.social, and Dr. Su for winning one of the Top Faculty Paper Awards at AEJMC! 🎉🎉 Their paper is titled, “Apprehensive or Motivational Threat? [...]” and was sponsored by a grant from the Rita Allen Foundation.

I'm trying to access my Amazon MTurk Requester account but can't get logged in. Tried in both Firefox and Chrome. I emailed Amazon customer service. Was told to use an online contact form that doesn't exist. Chatbot no help. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

🎬 #ScreentimeBU 2025 showcased program-long research by @comatbu.bsky.social's Emerging Media Studies & Media Science grads, with support from the CRC. 👏 Big thanks to @commscholar.bsky.social & Dr. Grabe, and congrats to all our wonderful students, there's no COM without you! #COMmunity

📚 Another step down the book publishing path: got to meet IN PERSON with my team @mitpress.bsky.social yesterday. Grateful for the support of @gita2.bsky.social & @xerochell.bsky.social. Excited to share this work with the world in November! #AcademicLife #BookLaunch mitpress.mit.edu/978026255360...

In my latest @bucomresearch.bsky.social Letter from the Director, I share the welcoming address I gave at #ScreentimeBU, our annual Emerging Media Studies grad student conference, reflecting on what it means to be human in an age increasingly shaped by algorithms. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ sites.bu.edu/crc/2025/06/...

🚨 Now in print in Health Communication! We explore who’s most vulnerable to health misinfo. 🔍 “Misinformation amplifiers” are loud but lack real health knowledge. 🧠 High motivation ≠ high literacy. We urge research into how to guide info-seekers more effectively. 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1041...

Thank you @dannagal.bsky.social for sharing this traumatic experience with us. The pipeline of science-based research in the US is nothing short of miraculous and must continue.

Another book I’m considering for the new grad course on information integrity: Misguided-Where Misinformation Starts, How It Spreads, and What to Do About It by @matthewfacciani.bsky.social

I'm developing a new grad course for this fall on #InformationIntegrity and am previewing several books for consideration. First up: The Psychology of Misinformation by Jon Roozenbeek and @profsanderlinden.bsky.social. I’m only on the prologue, but I already have a question...

🎧 New episode of 'The COMversation' from @bostonu.bsky.social's @comatbu.bsky.social. Fandom, storytelling, and spectacle - Dr. Howell is joined by Prof. Hannon and Prof. Blakely to unpack the future of sports media. 🎙️ Listen now: tinyurl.com/4bnz5ydy #SportsMedia #Communication #BUPodcast

Spoke with @bostonu.bsky.social's BU Today about YouTube’s content moderation rollback. Platforms are fueling confusion. We need digital superfund sites to clean up polluted info zones. Where would you start the cleanup? ☣️ www.bu.edu/articles/202...

A bit of peace in these times of chaos.

Such a great conversation with @corybarker.bsky.social and @mattjord.bsky.social about #factchecking: its history, effectiveness, and future with shoutouts to the #IFCN, @billadair.com, @glennkessler.bsky.social, & @lewan.bsky.social. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Ps. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention @amywestervelt.bsky.social's work covering advertorial on behalf of industries and other entities with moneyto drop. Here's an interview she conducts with @commscholar.bsky.social on the subject of how media slips in misinformation drilled.media/news/adverto...

🚨New study:🚨People most likely to spread vaccine misinformation are also least likely to accept corrections—or get vaccinated. Tailored messaging is key to fighting falsehoods. Free access until June 18: authors.elsevier.com/c/1l0BE2dUkY... #Misinformation #Vaccines #PublicHealth

Great resource designed to revolutionize global biothreats surveillance and response. BEACON is based at Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases. ⬇️⬇️⬇️