Duck
Dr. Jennifer Duck
About: Dr. Jennifer Duck is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist, producer and clinical associate professor with more than 25 years of experience spanning local, national and international news, documentary filmmaking, podcasting and digital storytelling. Her research examines how media and technology shape identity, trust and public understanding. She continues to develop award-winning stories and build partnerships that unite industry leaders, faculty and students around projects with lasting cultural impact.
Education
Ph.D., Rhetoric, Communication and Information Design, Clemson University
M.S., Mass Communication, Murray State University
B.S., Mass Communication, specialization in Mass Media and Politics, Miami University
Teaching
Multiplatform Journalism, Newsource
Professional Experience
From presidential campaign trails and newsrooms to production sets and university classrooms, Dr. Duck has built a career at the intersection of journalism, media and higher education. She has reported and produced with Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Martha Raddatz and Oprah Winfrey, with additional experience developing original series and nonfiction programming alongside production companies, talent agencies and creative teams.
Her White House reporting for ABC News took her aboard Air Force One and around the world, covering President George W. Bush's administration on issues ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the housing market crash. She interviewed senior administration officials and was the sole television pool reporter during Bush's final meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Kyiv, experiences that later informed her doctoral research. She also embedded with the Barack Obama and John McCain presidential campaigns, interviewing both candidates and reporting across ABC's broadcast and digital outlets.
She continued covering every presidential administration through her journalism and academic work while producing documentaries and original programming for broadcast networks, streaming services and digital platforms. Her roots in local journalism also run deep. As a reporter and anchor in Bakersfield, California she covered rural communities throughout the Central Valley, an experience that shaped her belief in local journalism's power to hold institutions accountable, amplify underrepresented voices and strengthen communities. Today, she advances that mission through the Center for Community News, mentoring journalism faculty across the Southeast and strengthening local news coverage with student reporting.
Leadership and Industry Partnerships
At UGA, Dr. Duck helped establish and now oversees an investigative reporting fellowship with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, bringing students and professional journalists together on investigative stories. She also works with rural news outlets across Northeast Georgia to expand local reporting opportunities for students, faculty and community journalists. As part of the Grady Newsource faculty team, she helped grow the newsroom's digital reach, with student reporting reaching record audiences in 2026, generating 3.2 million Google Search impressions, doubling website traffic and increasing Instagram views 1,000%, Facebook views over 200% and YouTube views 51% year over year.
As founding Executive Director of Story Studio at Belmont University, Dr. Duck led interdisciplinary initiatives and built industry partnerships with the Associated Press, the Tennessee Press Association, Amazon Prime Video and Dolly Parton. She helped launch Dolly U, bringing Parton’s creative and business ventures into courses across multiple colleges. This gave students and faculty opportunities to work directly with Parton and her team on projects involving business, communications, arts and entertainment. Dr. Duck also played a formative role in Belmont's $8.6 million Johnny Cash archives initiative, connecting cultural preservation with faculty research, student learning and creative projects.
Additional leadership experience includes 11 years as an Emmy Governor for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Midsouth Chapter and service on the TEDx Nashville executive board.
Research, Creative Work and Recognition
Dr. Duck's scholarly and creative contributions include academic publications, documentaries, podcasts and digital series centered on media, identity and technology.
Her journalism and productions have earned three national Emmy Awards for ABC News' coverage of President Barack Obama's inauguration (2009) and CNN's Finding Hope: Battling America's Suicide Crisis special with Anderson Cooper (2019), and PBS's Requiem for Colour, an orchestral tribute to Black history (2026). Exit 207: The Soul of Nashville(2023), a documentary she led with two faculty members and more than 40 students across disciplines, won multiple international film festival awards. Her students' work has earned recognition from the Associated Press and NPR and has appeared on PBS and the Documentary Channel.
Awards & Fellowships
- 2026 National Emmy Award, Requiem for Colour, PBS
- 2023–2026 Knight Foundation Center for Community News Fellow and Cohort Leader
- 2023–2024 Belmont Data Collaborative Senior Data Fellow
- 2023 Belmont Accelerator for Social Innovation Collaboration Grant
- 2023 Presidential Faculty Achievement Award Finalist, Belmont University
- 2023 Nashville Film Festival, Tennessee International Indie Film Festival and International Black Film Festival Awards, Exit 207: The Soul of Nashville
- 2023 NPR College Podcast Challenge Honorable Mention
- 2023 Northern Ireland Travel Grant, Agreement 25 Conference, Queen's University Belfast
- 2022 Fisk-Belmont Social Justice Grant
- 2022 Clemson University Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship
- 2020 Switzerland International Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival and New Creators Film Award Nominations, How Did We Get Here? Nashville Surviving
- 2019 National Emmy Award, Finding Hope: Battling America's Suicide Crisis, CNN
- 2019 Associated Press Award, Opioid Crisis Reporting, Vision News Network
- 2019 Associated Press Award, Television Sports Reporting, Vision News Network
- 2016 GLAAD Award, Pulse Nightclub Shooting, CNN
- 2016 Distinguished Alumna Award, Miami University
- 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Filmmaking, Last Call at the Oasis, Participant Media
- 2009 National Emmy Award, Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story, Barack Obama's Inauguration, ABC News
- 2006 National Press Foundation Paul Miller Fellowship
- 2004 Associated Press Award, Best Feature, WMUB