Three MESA graduate students (Chris Boyington, Shahariar Khan Nobel and Ralph Dinko) presented their research at the inaugural Scholar Spotlight Event, hosted by the SMSC Graduate Student Association. Their presentation, "Voiceless Migrants: Divergent Realities in the Framing of Immigration Narratives Across Social Media Platforms," examined immigration narratives across X, Threads and Truth Social. The study was co-authored by Gerardo Rodriguez, who contributed to the research but was not present at the event.

 The study revealed divergent realities in immigration narratives and a lack of migrant perspectives across these platforms. Using mixed methods, the research analyzed framing strategies and misinformation characteristics, emphasizing the need for migrant representation. The findings highlighted platform differences in framing strategies, with Truth Social emerging as a hub for negative portrayals.

This impactful research also earned recognition at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Philadelphia, winning 3rd place in the open paper call and the Dr. Carolyn Stroman Award for outstanding new members in the Minorities and Communication division.

Watch the video recap, produced by Andy Peprah.