The Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust was founded in 2018 by Jim Boren. He has had an extensive career in California’s journalism industry and currently serves as an instructor of media writing at California State University, Fresno. The institute works to create and share informative and engaging content for new consumers.
The distrust of media, and most other major institutions, has many major negative consequences in society, including a lack of civic engagement in democracy. The institute works to hold conversations about and seek ways to resolve these problems. In doing so, the institute brings in all sides on these complex issues, and finds solutions by doing deep-dive research into what’s driving the divisiveness, and then make solid recommendations.
The institute’s work is guided by the First Amendment. It is undoubtable that a well-informed citizenry will improve civic engagement and participation in democracy.
We welcome everyone’s participation, and believe that the more partners we have, the stronger our work will be.
A packed audience heard Fernandez describe the extensive reporting and fact-checking behind the investigation and engage in a candid discussion about its findings. In the region where the farmworker movement was born, and where generations of families have deeply personal ties to agriculture, New York Times journalist Manny Fernandez sat on a Fresno State stage…
As McClatchy cuts reporters, local politicians lose a headache—and communities lose a watchdog. Now that the smoke is clearing from the hedge-fund-inspired cuts at McClatchy newspapers, we’re getting a clearer picture of its “news” strategy across 30 newsrooms from California to Florida. The direction is stark: fewer reporters, fewer local voices and, especially, fewer journalists…
The people hired to help journalists reach public officials are instead becoming the barriers who keep them apart. One of the concerns journalists raised during Thursday’s First Amendment program at Fresno State was a troubling barrier to access: Public officials are increasingly becoming less available to the journalists whose job is to cover them. Instead,…
The Journalists of Color program was created by the Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State in partnership with the Youth Leadership Institute, the journalism program at Fresno City College, and the Media, Communications and Journalism Department at Fresno State.
The program offers regular training workshops to prepare students for a media career and provides academic advising support to help them along the college path. Students write and create multimedia news projects for The kNOw, a program that has been helping train young journalists since 2006 to tell stories about their communities.
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Jim Boren has had an extensive career in journalism. He was the former executive editor of the Fresno Bee, is currently the Institute for Media and Public Trust executive director and teaches news reporting at Fresno State.
