Center for Media Engagement - UT Austin

08/21/2026

Artificial intelligence is changing journalism—but it can do more than generate content.

Our proposed SXSW 2027 panel explores how AI can serve as a practical tool for helping journalists evaluate language, reduce perceived partisan framing, and strengthen audience trust.

Based on research conducted with newsrooms, this session focuses on real-world applications.

Community voting is open through August 23, and we'd be grateful for your support.

🗳️ Vote here:

PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

08/20/2026

AI is changing how we work. Social media shapes how we connect. Online privacy matters more than ever.

Connected & Confident brings together experts to help you navigate today's digital world with practical tools and confidence.

📍 Join us this fall beginning September 2 at UT Austin.

Learn more and register:

08/18/2026

Help us bring this conversation to SXSW 2027.

We've submitted a PanelPicker proposal titled Using AI to De-Bias the News.

Drawing on research conducted in partnership with newsrooms, our session explores what specifically leads audiences to perceive political bias in news articles—and how AI can help journalists identify those signals before publication.

Attendees will leave with practical, research-backed strategies they can immediately apply in their reporting.

If you'd like to see this session at SXSW, we'd appreciate your vote before August 23.

🗳️ Vote here:

PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

08/17/2026

Whether you're curious about AI, looking to strengthen your online privacy, or simply want to feel more confident navigating today's digital world, Connected & Confident is for you.

Join us this fall for an 8-session seminar featuring experts who will help participants build practical digital skills in a welcoming environment.

📍 Starts September 2 at UT Austin.

Learn more and register:

08/13/2026

We're headed to SXSW 2027—help us get there!

We've submitted a PanelPicker proposal: Using AI to De-Bias the News.

Trust in journalism continues to decline, with many audiences citing perceived political bias. Drawing on new research conducted in partnership with newsrooms, our session explores:

✔️ The words and framing that audiences perceive as biased
✔️ Reporting approaches that better signal neutrality
✔️ Practical ways journalists can use AI to detect and reduce perceived bias

If this conversation is important to you, we'd appreciate your vote during the SXSW PanelPicker Community Voting period (open through August 23).

Vote here:

Thank you for helping bring research-backed conversations about journalism and AI to the SXSW stage!

PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

08/11/2026

How can research help shape the future of journalism?

Join CME's Gina M. Masullo for the Research Roundup, a session highlighting new research on journalism, media, and audience engagement.

📅 Sept. 17–18
📍 Austin + Online

View the full program: https://twp.ai/4htZiD

08/03/2026

Join Connected & Confident, an 8-session seminar designed to help you better navigate today's digital world.

You'll hear from subject experts on:
✔ AI fundamentals
✔ Social media essentials
✔ Online safety and privacy

Whether you're looking to build new skills or better understand today's technology, this series offers practical guidance you can use every day.

📍 Begins September 2 at UT Austin (parking available)

Register today:

07/22/2026

Join us this fall for Connected & Confident, an 8-session seminar covering:

✔ AI basics
✔ Social media essentials
✔ Online safety & privacy
✔ Digital literacy

Learn practical skills from subject experts and leave feeling more confident navigating today's digital world.

📅 Starts September 2

➡️ Register today:

07/20/2026

Know someone who's curious about AI but doesn't know where to start?

Or someone who wants to feel more confident navigating social media and online information?

Connected & Confident offers eight sessions led by experts covering today's most important digital topics.

Learn together. Build confidence. Stay informed.

📅 Beginning September 2
📍 UT Austin campus

➡️ Register:

07/16/2026

Another researcher recommendation for our CME Picks series!

In this article for @ The New York Times, @ Bill Wasik explores how AI tools are transforming historical research — scanning archives, surfacing patterns, and helping scholars connect stories across time.

But AI doesn’t just find information. It influences how knowledge is organized, which narratives get attention, and how we interpret the past.

For communication researchers, this raises urgent questions:
Who shapes the systems that shape our knowledge?
What biases get scaled when AI becomes part of research?
How do we stay thoughtful and critical while using powerful tools?

Where do you see AI influencing how people understand the world — for better or worse?
Let’s talk about it💡