College of Communication, Boston University

: Some words get censored. This campaign made sure they couldn’t be ignored… or washed away.

Recent COM Alums Kira Chick and Nané Avedikian earned a prestigious D&AD New Blood Pencil Award for Clean Words, a CensHERship and The Case For Her campaign. The project confronts the censorship of women’s health terms on social media through a powerful idea: bars of soap etched with terms Meta flags as “explicit.”

Go behind the campaign and learn more about this International honor at http://spr.ly/6182BDJR22!

Scene and Heard (enthusiastically) after COM: The voice of the New York Knicks' NBA Championship!

As final seconds of Game 5 ticked away, Knicks fans heard the call they'll remember forever from New York Knicks radio announcer Tyler Murray (COM ’11): "They'll be forever remembered as the team that proved no lead is too big, and no guard is too small."

Listen to his NBA championship call at:
🏀 USA Today For The Win: http://spr.ly/6188BDG1qQ
🏀 New York Post: http://spr.ly/6181BDG1qx
🏀 SNY: http://spr.ly/6183BDG1qL

📸 MSG and Charles Wenzelberg, New York Post

Our 2026 COM Awards celebration concludes with the Nachman Writing Award. The Jerome A. Nachman Writing Award is designed to inspire students to “follow their passion and strive to become better writers.”

This year's masters of the written word are Karyna Cheung and Sangmin Song!

COMgratulations all!

My bagel is Einstein Bros
My pizza is U-Grill
NBA chatter is alive.
Will it be Knicks in five?

🏀 Before the tip-off of the NBA Finals, Associate Professor of the Practice of Sports Journalism and WBUR's "go-to NBA expert" Sherrod Blakely sat down with WBUR to preview the series.

🎧 Listen in here: http://spr.ly/6187B87WEb

📸 Vincent Carchietta/Imagn/Reuters

Usually, we dream in scarlet. But we'll gladly take gold!

Congratulations to the COM students who took home top honors at the Student Production Awards, presented by the Boston/New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the organization behind The Emmys!).

Learn more about their journalistic work that spans athletics, politics, and more, and celebrate all the winners at http://spr.ly/6183B8A8zZ

📸 Emmys 2026©Eric Antoniou

🎉 Welcome back to COMmendations, our weekly showcase highlighting recent COMtributions to the field by Boston University College of Communication faculty, staff, and students. Join us as we recognize the innovation that makes our COMmunity exceptional!

🛢️ Associate Dean of Research and Associate Professor of Mass Communication Dr. Michelle Amazeen was quoted in DeSmog's review of advertisements on branded podcasts. In the piece, titled "NYT, WSJ Podcasts Promote Pro-drilling Ads by Top US Oil Lobby API," Amazeen reflects on what it means when elite news outlets accept sponsorships from fossil fuel interests: http://spr.ly/6180B8NtHM

🤖 Research on AI inoculation by Emerging Media Studies graduate student Chi B. Vu was included in Scientific American's "Why Lawyers Keep Citing Fake Cases Invented by AI." Research shows that awareness isn't always enough to change behavior: http://spr.ly/6181B8NtH3

📺 NBC10 Boston interviewed Associate Professor of Emerging Media Studies Chris Wells on the viral (infamous?) Graham Platner Senate campaign ad, which featured the Boston Red Sox (angered Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy): http://spr.ly/6182B8NtHO

📸 from DeSmog

Welcome back to COMmendations! 🎉

Our COM Faculty and Staff in our COMmunity lend their expertise to some of the most important conversations happening in media, journalism, and communications.

Here's where we've been making waves recently:

🗣️ The Guardian
Associate Professor of Media Science Tammy Vigil weighs in on the politicization of pregnancy in the Trump White House, contributing to an article examining how high-profile births have become part of a pronatalist messaging strategy. Dive in at: http://spr.ly/6187B8oMpc

🤝 Bay State Banner
Professor of the Practice and Director of COM's Center for Media Innovation & Social Impact Eric Gordon was highlighted in a Bay State Banner article recapping a research conference focused on community-centered AI tools. Read more at http://spr.ly/6180B8oMpm

📰 The Washington Post
Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies Joan Donovan helps to unpack a new survey that reveals that a significant portion of Americans believe the Trump assassination attempts were staged. More at http://spr.ly/6182B8oMpo

📱 USA Today
Anyone remember "justgirlythings" on Tumblr? If so, this piece is for you! Assistant Professor Dr. Kathryn Coduto, Media Science, reflects on the early experimental days of social media with USA Today and dives into how those platforms shifted our online identity. Head back into the "early aughts" at http://spr.ly/6184B8oMpq

Scene & Heard After COM: Meet Award-winning cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera (COM ’03)!

Spera has built a career on curiosity and collaboration while saying “yes” to opportunities. Most recently, she brought her distinctive visual style to Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again, helping to create a gritty and unique vision of New York City for the hit series.

Go behind the camera with Spera in her conversation with COM: http://spr.ly/6180B8i4ig

We are proud to share that Assistant Professor of Emerging Media Studies Dr. Ayse Lokmanoglu has been awarded a 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship! One of 24 scholars selected this cycle, Dr. Lokmanoglu will investigate the effects of online imagery on polarization.

Read on at http://spr.ly/6187BBlsD5

What do environmental changes feel like and look like through community stories? How can stories shape our actions? And how do we move forward together?

Join the Center for Media Innovation & Social Impact (MISI) at Boston University College of Communication for Stories from a Warming World, an evening of reflection and action at WBUR CitySpace.

Be a part of the story on Wednesday, May 13th: http://spr.ly/6188BB9RU4