Banner photo by Derek Palmer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Public confidence in once-respected institutions is deteriorating<\/a>. With the proliferation of misinformation fueled by AI, political polarization, and social media, people are less likely to trust public outreach from news organizations, government entities, universities, and other historically trusted sources of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication is foundational to a healthy and productive democracy. As conversations about crises like climate change become increasingly fraught, a team of Boston University communication experts is bringing together local storytellers and BU faculty to explore how to restore trust and communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re in this ecosystem where all these institutions are churning out messages, but everyone\u2019s like, \u2018Nope, I don\u2019t trust what you\u2019re churning out. What I\u2019m going to trust is the thing that my friend on Instagram is posting.\u2019 So what do we do with that?\u201d asks Eric Gordon<\/a>, a professor of the practice of journalism at Boston University\u2019s College of Communication (COM) and an affiliated faculty member at BU\u2019s Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gordon recently joined BU to lead its new Center for Media Innovation & Social Impact (MISI)<\/a>. He will work alongside COM\u2019s David Abel<\/a>, a professor of the practice of journalism, Chris Wells<\/a>, a professor of emerging media studies, both also IGS faculty affiliates, and Amy Geller<\/a>, an assistant professor of film & television. We spoke with Gordon to learn about MISI, diminishing levels of trust, community perspectives on storytelling, and the Communicating Climate<\/em><\/a> event planned for this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is, if we look at our information landscape and our media landscape, even the best reporting is sometimes not trusted. When we assess that reality, do we say: \u2018It\u2019s not trusted because it\u2019s bad reporting?\u2019 Or do we say: \u2018It\u2019s not trusted because of the way the story gets socialized within the community that is meant to trust it?\u2019 Our team is working to understand and support how stories gain trust and legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re operating in a context of reduced or absent trust, it may be necessary to bring the people central to that story closer to the storytelling. The problem is news organizations tend to draw a hard line between journalism and community storytelling. But in order to reinvigorate the relevance of journalism and the organizations that do it, we need to diversify the kinds of methods and goals that we use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our team is working to understand and support how stories gain trust and legitimacy.<\/p> \u2013 Eric Gordon<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The Center will experiment with participatory methods where we bring people into the act of storytelling to create more authentic and trustworthy stories. We\u2019ll also explore traditional storytelling methods with novel media forms. Our goal is not to say \u2018This is the only way to tell trustworthy stories.\u2019 Instead, we\u2019re asking, \u2018What kinds of stories, and what kinds of technologies and methods are most effective for information to be trusted by the communities who need it. \u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Focusing on the local area is important for a number of reasons. We want to establish the Center and BU as a trustworthy partner within Boston\u2019s environmental justice community. Our goal is to have a place-based community and an in-person culture to build relationships and to understand impact within the community of local activists, media makers, and artists. We want to have national and international influence, but we do that by actually understanding how this work can change a local ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A value for me, and the Center, is to directly support individuals and the communities they\u2019re coming from when we collaborate or add affiliates. That\u2019s how a university like BU can have a substantial impact on the city that surrounds it. And at this particular moment, cities and localities matter more than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What we\u2019re doing with Transforming Narratives for Environmental Justice is focusing on communities that are most impacted by climate change. With a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, we recruited two separate cohorts: One is a cohort of five humanities scholars from across BU who are coming to the Center to explore how their specific expertise might apply to environmental justice in contemporary New England. The other cohort is our Community Impact Fellows, who are climate artists, activists, and advocates from the Boston area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of our goals is to create a context where we can have discussions across disciplines and levels of expertise and work across those divides. These Fellows can create a trusted and collaborative community to understand a space that is not yet defined \u2014 to ask important questions, cultivate new collaborations or partnerships, and generate new research ideas or projects within the context of environmental or climate justice. That\u2019s how we\u2019re getting this off the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m encouraged by messages from President Gilliam that BU should be Boston\u2019s university. That\u2019s something that I\u2019m really leaning into at MISI. I\u2019m also encouraged by messages from other university leaders looking for collaborative endeavors and interdisciplinarity in all its forms. The Center we\u2019re starting is nothing if not collaborative, and nothing if not focused on local impact. In that sense, I feel like BU is the exact right place to be doing this right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, the scope of the expertise at BU is extraordinary and unique. It gives us an opportunity to work alongside the existing expertise at the University and figure out ways to catalyze it toward real-world impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Center we\u2019re starting is nothing if not collaborative, and nothing if not focused on local impact. In that sense, I feel like BU is the exact right place to be doing this right now.<\/p> \u2013 Eric Gordon<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/igs\/files\/2025\/09\/Headshot-500-x-500-px-2.jpg\")
\n\n\n\nQ&A with Eric Gordon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are some of the core issues the Center for Media Innovation & Social Impact (MISI) aims to address?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What are the benefits of focusing on local storytelling?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Can you tell us more about the Transforming Narratives for Environmental Justice (TNEJ) project, as one of MISI\u2019s first initiatives?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What makes BU the right place for MISI and TNEJ to thrive?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How can people get involved with MISI\u2019s work?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n