A Conversation & Lunch with Expert & Author Michelle Amazeen

Join us for lunch and to discuss Content Confusion, a new book on how mainstream news outlets are being leveraged by advertisers to blur the boundaries between journalism and advertising, making it increasingly difficult for audiences to distinguish fact from spin.

Drawing on strategies that echo—but are not identical to—those once used by the tobacco industry, the fossil fuel sector now collaborates with news organizations to produce and legitimize misleading content. This partnership shapes an “alternate reality” that confuses the public, undermines trust in the media, and impedes informed dialogue on critical sustainability issues.

Author Michelle Amazeen is an Associate Professor of Mass Communication, Associate Dean of Research, and Director of the Communication Research Center at the Boston University College of Communication (COM), and core faculty with the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS).

This event will be moderated by Jill Abramson, Distinguished Professor of Practice and Senior Fellow at Northeastern University and former Executive Editor at The New York Times, with opening remarks by Arunima Krishna, Associate Professor of Mass Communication, Advertising, and Public Relations, and Associate Dean, Faculty Development at COM, and an Associate Director at IGS.