Grady College faculty and graduate students prepare for 2026 AEJMC Conference

Faculty and graduate students from Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will present research, serve as panelists and network with other educators at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference. The 2026 conference takes place in New Orleans, Aug. 5 – 8, 2026. 

Several faculty and graduate students will be honored for their outstanding work during the conference and numerous individuals will be presenting their work during poster presentations, sessions and discussions. Below is an outline of Grady College faculty and graduate student involvement in the 2026 AEJMC Conference.

Awards

Yan Jin, the C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, has been named a 2027 Senior Research Fellow of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication.

Anne Perera, Max Zhou and Yi Zhao, Grady College Ph.D. students, was recognized as one of the award-winning submissions in the Student Paper Competition in Public Relations Division for their work, “When AI Meets the C-Suite: Senior Communication Leaders’ Perspectives on the Ethics, Professional Identity, and Governance in the GenAI Era.”

Quindelda “Q.” McElroy, Grady College Ph.D. student, has been selected as the 2026 Inez Kaiser Graduate Student of Color Award. The award celebrates the accomplishments of Inez Kaiser, who was the first Black woman to belong to the Public Relations Society of America.

Bartosz Wojdynski, Jim Kennedy New Media Professor and professor in the Department of Journalism, Brittany Shivers (MA ’23, PhD ’26) and Moses Okocha, Grady College Ph.D. student, received Second Place Faculty Paper in the Visual Communication Division for their work, “Can C2PA Content Credentials Help Consumers Distinguish Real Photographs from AI-generated Lookalikes?”

Tuesday, August 4

8:30 a.m. — Lauren Flaker, Grady College Ph.D. student, presented a final report, “When Moral Outrage Strikes: Managing Stakeholders’ Crisis Responses During an Organizational Scansis” at Page Center x Crisis Communication Think Tank Collaboration Meeting.

8:30 a.m. — Lauren Flaker, Grady College Ph.D. student, presented a final report, “AI and Leadership” at Page Center x Crisis Communication Think Tank Collaboration Meeting.

Wednesday, August 5

8:30 – 9:45 a.m. — Roberta Fiorito, Grady College Ph.D. student, and Karin Assmann, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, are presenting, “Parasocial Paradox: How Substack Journalists Negotiate Relational Labor Under Creator Economy Demands” in the Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session.

10:15 – 11:30 a.m.  — Yan Jin, the C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Rita Tang and Erich Sommefeldt (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities) are presenting, “Using STOPS to Stop Misinformation: Situational Theory of Problem-Solving as A Framework to Motivate Communicative Actions on Social Media” in the Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk Division Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper Session.

12 – 1:15 p.m. — Kyser Lough, Director of the News Literacy Certificate and associate professor in the Department of Journalism, is a panelist for, “Graduate Student Luncheon, Topic: Job Market Preparation from the Search Committee’s Perspective.”

3:30 – 4:45 p.m. — Denetra Walker, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, is presenting “’We Earned It, We Earned Capital Through What We Do’: Black Broadcast Journalists’ Changing Online and Offline Norms” in the Broadcast and Mobile Journalism Division. 

Thursday, August 6

8 – 9:15 a.m. — Kyser Lough, professor in the Department of Journalism, is a panelist for “Go Abroad: Cultural Exchange Programs for Journalism Students” in the Magazine Media Division. 

9:45 – 11 a.m. — Stephen Jiwanmall, lecturer in the Department of Public Relations, is a panelist for, “Caring for the Storyteller: Balancing Ambition, Identity, and Self-Care in Classrooms and Newsrooms” in the Broadcast and Mobile Journalism Division and Commission for LGBTQIA+ Communities. 

11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. — Rongting Niu and Yi Zhao, Grady College Ph.D. students, and Yan Jin, the C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, and Ejae Lee (Boston) are presenting, “The Messenger is the Message: Examining the Effects of Crisis Type and Spokesperson Choice on Publics’ Moral Emotions, Perceived Accountability and Authenticity, and Behavioral Intentions” in the Public Relations Division Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session. 

1:15 – 2:30 p.m. — Ruoyu Sun, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Weilu Zhang (University of Kentucky), Qingru Xu (University of Kentucky), and Matthew Conway (University of Kentucky), are presenting, “Affinity Targeting In Sports Broadcasting: The Effect of Personalized Team Placement on Consumer Responses and Advertising Effectiveness” in the Advertising Division Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session.

1:15 – 2:30 p.m. —  Mengqi (Maggie) Liao, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Ching-Hua Chuan (Miami), Stony Brook, Ruoyu Sun, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, are presenting, “The Illusion of Knowing: Dunning-Kruger Effect in Generative AI Misinformation Detection” in the Advertising Division Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session.

3 – 4:15 p.m. — Kyser Lough, professor in the Department of Journalism, and Felix Scheyer (MA ’26) are presenting, “Seeing What Journalists Cannot: The Role of Non-journalist Photographers in Creating and Capturing Belongings within Local Communities” in the Community Journalism Interest Group Scholar-to-Scholar Poster session. 

3 – 4:15 pm. — Karin Assmann, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, is a discussant for the Community Journalism Interest Group Poster Presentation session. 

4:45 – 6 p.m. — Bartosz Wojdynski, Jim Kennedy New Media Professor and professor in the Department of Journalism, Brittany Shivers and Moses Okocha, Grady College Ph.D. student, are presenting, “Can C2PA Content Credentials Help Consumers Distinguish Real Photographs from AI-generated Lookalikes?” in the Visual Communication Division Top Refereed Research Paper session. 

8 – 10 p.m. —  Karin Assmann, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, and Roberta Fiorito, Grady College Ph.D. student, is holding an off-site social as chair of the Community Journalism Interest Group at the Cornet on 700 Bourbon Street. 

Friday, August 7

9:45 – 11 a.m. — Denetra Walker, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, is a panelist for “Broadcasting in the Public Interest: Examining FCC Leadership Shifts and Policy Upheaval” in the Broadcast and Mobile Journalism Division and Community Journalism Interest Group. 

1:15 – 2:30 p.m. — Daniella Grieffo, Bartosz Wojdynski, Jim Kennedy New Media Professor and professor in the Department of Journalism, Sohyun Park, Jiwon Kim and Sanghyeon Jeon, Grady College Ph.D. students, are presenting, “Exploring AI-Generated Review Summaries (AIGS) in E-Commerce: The Impact of AI Disclosure Language and Review Framing on Consumer Perceptions” in the Communication Technology Division Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session.

1:15 – 2:30 — Welch Suggs, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, is presenting, “Course Corrections at the U.S.A. Half Marathon Championships: A Crisis-Communications Analysis” in the Sports Communication Interest Group Refereed Research Paper session. 

1:15 – 3 p.m. — Sophie Kim, NaYoung Song, Sanghyeon Jeon, Grady College Ph.D. students, Mengqi Liao, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, and Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, Director of the CACHE Lab and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting, “Friend or Foe: AI Agents as Catalysts for Ad Hoc Team Development,” in the Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session.

3 to 4:15 p.m. — Bartosz Wojdynski, Jim Kennedy New Media Professor and professor in the Department of Journalism, is a discussant for the Visual Communication Division Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session. 

4:45 – 6 p.m. — Karin Assmann, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, and Roberta Fiorito, Grady College Ph.D. student, are presenting, “The Paper: Mocking Or Paying Tribute to Community News? Metajournalistic Discourse Repairing a Broken Local News Paradigm” in the Community Journalism Interest Group Top Refereed Research Paper session. 

6:30 – 7:45 p.m. — Karin Assmann, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, is leading the Community Journalism Interest group’s annual meeting. 

Saturday, August 8

11: 15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Anne Perera, Max Zhou and Yi Zhao, Grady College Ph.D. students, are presenting, “When AI Meets the C-Suite: Senior Communication Leaders’ Perspectives on the Ethics, Professional Identity, and Governance in the GenAI Era” in the Public Relations Divisions Top Student Papers. 

Author: Sam Tupper, Samuel.tupper@uga.edu