Content Confusion: Why Americans Are Losing Faith in Corporate Climate Promises—and the Media’s Role By: Michelle Amazeen As the world wrestles with an accelerating climate crisis, hope rests on collective action from governments, corporations, and citizens. Yet last week’s conclusion of COP30 produced an agreement largely seen as “incremental at best” and far less than […]
Navigating Pressures and Protecting Free Speech: Public Views and the Future of Media Freedom By: Michelle Amazeen Following recent government pressure to remove Jimmy Kimmel from his ABC late-night show over his politically charged remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Boston University’s Communication Research Center (CRC) conducted a nationwide survey to gauge […]
By Burt Glass Almost three out of four Americans (73%) across political lines agree that the First Amendment should protect private speakers, like media companies and talk show hosts, from government censorship so their speech is virtually unrestricted, except for inciting violence. That’s a key finding in a new Media & Technology Survey by Boston […]
By Burt Glass An overwhelming majority of Americans across the political spectrum support protections against “deepfakes” in media that use a person’s voice and visual likeness without permission, according to a new opinion survey designed by the Communication Research Center at Boston University’s College of Communication and conducted by Ipsos. More than four of five […]
Back to School 2025 By: Michelle Amazeen With the crispness of fall settling in and the start of a new semester, I hope all Communication Research Center (CRC) fellows are re-energized and entering this semester with renewed enthusiasm for their important work. Many of us have continued advancing our research and sharing insights throughout the […]
Information Under Threat: Protecting Truth and Democracy in Uncertain Times By: Michelle Amazeen As a professor in higher education, I spent this summer advancing my research, planning new courses, and observing with growing concern the narrowing of public information in our society. Last week, I attended the journalism and mass communication educators’ conference in San […]
The CRC at 66: A Legacy of Inquiry in a Changing Media Landscape By: Michelle Amazeen COM graduate students in the division of Emerging Media Studies hosted their annual #ScreentimeBU conference on June 23rd. This year’s theme was The Human Algorithm: Exploring Digital Behavior, AI Influence, & Inclusive Futures. I was honored to deliver the […]
By Burt Glass More than twice as many people disagree with the idea that computer-powered artificial intelligence in dating apps will lead to more successful relationships than agree – and the gap is even larger among women. That’s according to a new opinion survey designed by the Communication Research Center at Boston University’s College of […]
The Spring 2025 Semester in Review By: Michelle Amazeen With the end of another semester, I have been reflecting upon the many activities in the CRC and among our fellows in 2025, thus far. At a time when external research funding has been increasingly difficult to attain (and retain), the CRC continued its annual call […]
By Yelena Rodolitz We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Ayse Lokmanoglu, the first of our newly-appointed faculty to be featured in our Spotlight series. Ayse is an Assistant Professor in the Emerging Media Studies program, and conducts interdisciplinary research that engages the fields of communication, computational social science, and the digital humanities. […]