Jonathan Corpus Ong is Associate Professor of Global Digital Media in the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. He is the author of two books and over 25 journal articles in the areas of media ethics, humanitarian communication, and digital politics. He is currently Co-Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation Accelerator Grant (2021-2022) investigating racially targeted misinformation against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. In his disinformation studies research, Jonathan uses ethnography to understand the social identities, work arrangements and moral justifications of workers behind shadowy influence operations. His pioneering study “Architects of Networked Disinformation” demystifies the collaborative work structures of the advertising and PR strategists behind toxic political campaigns in the Philippines. His policy engagement advocates for bottom-up reforms in campaign finance regulation and accountability and ethics in political and corporate marketing. Jonathan joins the Technology and Social Change team at the Shorenstein Center for the second straight year as Research Fellow. This year, he is particularly excited to lead the collaborative initiative on the “True Costs of Misinformation”. This initiative aims to develop conceptual tools that can measure the financial, social, and human costs of misinformation. This is a tool for advocacy offer support to pro-democracy frontliners
