Information manipulation and societal division
won’t go away on their own.

We need evidence-based approaches to information literacy that center community and business needs, promote quality news sources and foster both learning and connection.

It began with a discussion group
in southern Pennsylvania,

convened by founder Deanna Troust in 2017 after the term “fake news” had entered U.S. discourse. She found that even a politically diverse group could find common ground on the issue — especially when shown how information is being manipulated in digital spaces today.

Just as important: People were grateful to talk about pressing issues without fear of conflict.

Today, Truth in Common offers multi-channel learning experiences that draw on best practices in media and digital literacy, research from partners like Cybersecurity for Democracy at NYU and the Polarization and Social Change Lab at Stanford University, the psychology of how falsehoods take hold and Deanna’s decades of experience in strategic communications, training and social change.

Truth in Common was founded to fill a gap in media and digital literacy training, where few solutions are relational, pluralistic and community-based. We developed and piloted the workshop curriculum in 2022, with groups in Buffalo, NY-area residents, in partnership with the American German Institute’s Social Divisions and Questions of Identity Project, and with professional communicators in the U.S. and Canada. After refinement, Truth in Common debuted in Washington, DC in June 2023 at the Cleveland Park Library and is expanding to library systems elsewhere.

Truth in Common offers strategic advisory and risk mitigation services for mission-driven organizations and businesses as well.

About the founder

Deanna Troust is an award-winning communications strategist and educator whose career includes 25 years in multicultural social change communications, leadership roles at Vanguard Communications and two successful entrepreneurial ventures. As founder of 3 Stories Communications, Deanna was a pioneer in bringing communications strategy to the inclusion / organizational development spaces and has led dozens of cultural assessment and strategy projects, both solo and in partnership with leading Washington, DC-area firms. As a consultant with the Mission Partners team, she learned about mis-, dis- and malinformation education by working with the research community and pro-democracy initiatives and efforts to save local news.

Deanna brings an unusual blend of mission orientation, PR strategy and gracious facilitation to the misinformation crisis, which she sees as an issue of equity and access, and one of the most pressing of our time.

Truth and Common is committed to the respectful and inclusive treatment of all individuals — including those with differing political and ideological viewpoints. The values of the Truth in Common initiative mirror her own:

Respect | Integrity | Curiosity | Courage

Deanna is a sought-after speaker on misinformation and its effects on communities and businesses, and the power professional communicators hold in helping to stem its spread. A graduate of Cornell University, she lives with her bicultural family in Washington, DC; spends time in Worton, MD; and has recently reconnected with her roots outside Buffalo, NY.

Connect with Deanna on LinkedIn , Threads @dtroust or X/Twitter @DeeLT.

For more about consulting services, visit 3storiescommunications.com or note your interest on the contact form on our Home page.

About our intern

Josephine Rowan is a Seattle born, Hawaii raised perspective political science major at UCLA. She has a strong interest in civic duty and equity.

Board of Directors