DEAR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS,

On behalf of everyone at the Center for Media Engagement, we hope that this note finds you, your friends, and your family well. 2020 has been an unbelievable year; I think we will be unpacking it for years to come. Through it, I could not have been prouder to work with the people at the Center for Media Engagement and to know people like you, who share our vision of a vibrant media ecosystem that helps people to learn, to engage in the exchange of ideas, and to work together.

Looking at what we’ve accomplished this past year, you would hardly know it has been filled with challenges. For that, I am grateful to work with people who see difficult times and rise to the occasion, working harder out of a commitment to making a difference and a belief that media engagement is a critical piece of the puzzle. As the country closed down due to the coronavirus pandemic, we got to work analyzing what the public wanted to know from local news and whether the information was available. When protests against police brutality broke out across the country, Associate Director Dr. Gina Masullo put a team together to study how journalism could better serve Black Americans. As the election approached, Program Director of Propaganda Dr. Sam Woolley and his team reported on the campaigns’ use of new technologies and shared their expertise with media outlets around the world. As the media became critical conduits for information and belonging, Program Director of Media Ethics Dr. Scott Stroud and his team published their 100th case study and saw more use of their work as many moved to online learning. And as science communication took center stage, Program Director of Science Communication Dr. Anthony Dudo and his team investigated how to diversify the scientists that communicate with the public and how to help the public learn about the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout all of these efforts, students at the university worked with the center, gaining valuable experience and helping to push our work forward despite an interrupted educational experience.

This year has reinforced for me why we do what we do. Society only works if people have reliable information, trust the institutions providing them with that information, and come together for a mission bigger than any one person or political party. The media are the most important and efficient means for building these critical societal foundations. Our work supports, bolsters, and improves the media ecosystem.

As I look to 2021, I hope it is less tumultuous. I hope it is a year of renewal. We are committed to doing our part, with projects in the works on the use of geo-targeting, the media’s connection to the Latinx community, the influence of social media in the U.S. election, how platforms can signal trust and create more public-friendly spaces, and what the public thinks about how scientists communicate.

The center is able to do this work thanks to generous funding from organizations like the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the Hewlett Foundation, Omidyar Network, the Open Society Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation, and contributions from individual donors. We are grateful for support from the Moody College of Communication and The University of Texas. We are truly appreciative of supporters like you who read, use, and share our work. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for believing in our mission.

Sending you and yours very best wishes for 2021 and my deepest thanks,

Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Media Engagement