Good Trouble in the Time of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The rapid circulation of COVID-19 misinformation posed one of the most vexing challenges to health communication scholars and practitioners during the pandemic. Within the communication field, our response to health misinformation has often focused on shoring up public trust in scientific knowledge and amplifying institutional expertise. But this strategy of rebuilding public trust in institutions has a serious weakness: it requires the leaders of these institutions to actually behave in ways that merit trust. This essay tells the story of one such moment when the actions of university leaders threatened to undermine public faith in George Mason University’s “safe return to campus” plan. The essay then discusses how a mobilized and organized faculty helped counter this threat by demanding that university leaders embrace transparency, decision-maker accountability, and a commitment to truth-telling based on science.

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interests to disclose, but wish to be transparent about our role in these events. We are leaders of GMU-AAUP, and we drove the investigation of Kallaco, LLC and GMU’s troubled pre-arrival testing program.