Grady College faculty and graduate students showcase their achievements at the 2025 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 2025 conference takes place in San Francisco, Aug. 6 – 10, 2025. 

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 2025 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference.

Awards

Lexie Little, Grady College Ph.D. student, receives the Top Student Paper in the 2025 AEJMC History Division Research Paper Competition.

Anne Perera, Grady College Ph.D. student, receives the 2025 Inez Kaiser Graduate Students of Color Award.

Quindelda “Q.” McElroy, Grady College Ph.D. student, has been selected as a 2025-2026 AEJMC-MCSD Diversity and Inclusion Career Development Fellow. The fellowship, which is sponsored by the AEJMC Committee on Career Development and the AEJMC Mass Communication and Society Division, was established to help graduate students with career preparation and mentorship throughout the academic year.

Jonathan Peters, Grady College Carolyn McKenzie and Don E. Carter Chair for Excellence in Journalism and associate dean for academic affairs, and Leslie Klein (PhD ’24) received the 3^rd place in the Top Faculty Paper Law & Policy Division for their work, “License to discriminate: A critical frame analysis of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis newspaper coverage.”

Jiwon Kim, Grady College Ph.D. student, received the AEJMC Mass Communication & Society Division Student Research Award.

Sahar Saadat, Grady College Ph.D. student, had two papers selected for the Graduate Research Showcase.

River Gracey, Grady College Ph.D. student, received 3rd place for Top Student Papers.

Wednesday, August 6

3:10 – 4:30 p.m. – Brittany Shivers, Grady College Ph.D. student, and Bart Wojdynski, Jim Kennedy New Media Professor and professor in the Department of Journalism, are panelists for Real Consequences: How AI Disclosure Shapes News Credibility.

Thursday, August 7

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. – Mengqi Liao, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting “Consumer Trust and AI in Advertising: A Systematic Review of Advertising Literature” in the advertising division of the poster session.

10:15 – 11:30 a.m. – Karin Assmann, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, will serve as the discussant for the Community Journalism Interest Group Poster session.

10:15 – 11:30 a.m. – Sahar Saadat, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “BL Meets K-Drama: Semantic Error Redefining Queer Visibility in Transnational Spaces” in the Scholar-to-Scholar (Poster) Refereed Research Paper session.

10:15 – 11:30 a.m. – Hye Jin Yoon, associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting, “The Role of Message Format and Content: How Carousel Format and Verbal Anchoring Shape Audience Responses to Environmental Public Service Announcements on Social Media.”

12 – 1:15 p.m. – Karin Assmenn, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, is presenting “Covering the Right: German journalists rethinking their reporting practices” in the international communication division poster presentation.

12 – 1:15 p.m. – Yan Jin, C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, and Rongting Niu, Grady College Ph.D. student, are presenting “Punish or Forgive? Exploring the Mediating Role of CEO Attitudes on the Interaction of Emotional Crisis Communication and Crisis Type” in the public relations division of the Refereed Research Paper session.

12 – 1:15 p.m. – Xuerong Lu (Ph.D. ‘22), Wenqing Zhao, Grady College Ph.D. Student, and Yan Jin, C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, are presenting “Red Alert in Authority-led Public Health Crisis Communication Efforts: The Role of Pre-existing Source Trust on the Impact of Misinformation and Corrective Appeals on Publics’ Identity Threat, Reactance, and Emotional Responses” in the public relations division of the Refereed Research Paper session.

12 – 1:15 p.m. – Rongting Niu, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “Punish or Forgive? Exploring the Mediating Role of CEO Attitudes on the Interaction of Emotional Crisis Communication and Crisis Type.”

1:45 – 3 p.m. – Nicholas Eng, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting “Perceptions of climate and diversity advocacy in politically trying times: Examining responses to companies that abandon, maintain, or expand CSA.”

1:45 – 3 p.m. – Nicholas Eng, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, and Rongting Niu, Grady College Ph.D. student, are presenting, “How Moral Appraisals Operate in Sticky Crises: Exploring the Distinction between Moral Outrage and Empathic Anger within the Triadic Appraisal Framework of Situational Crisis Communication Theory” in the public relations division.

1:45 – 3 p.m. – Q McElroy, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “Bluey is a Girl?!: Examining Gender Representation in America’s No. 1 TV Show for Children.“

1:45 – 3 p.m. – Rongting Niu, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “How Moral Appraisals Operate in Sticky Crises: Exploring the Distinction between Moral Outrage and Empathic Anger within the Triadic Appraisal Framework of Situational Crisis Communication Theory.”

3:30 – 4:45 p.m. – Sahar Saadat, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “BL Meets K-Drama: Semantic Error Redefining Queer Visibility in Transnational Spaces” in the Graduate Education Showcase.

Friday, August 8

8 a.m. – Kyser Lough, associate professor in the Department of Journalism, is presenting, “Behind the Lens, Beyond the Fee: Barriers to Entry in the “Best of Photojournalism” Competition,” a paper co-authored with Roberta Fiorito, Grady College Ph.D. student.

9:45 – 11 a.m. – River Gracey, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting “Organizational Readiness for Workplace Silence: Understanding Employee Doubt and Doubt-triggered Internal Risks and Crises” in the Top Student Paper Competition session.

9:45 a.m. – River Gracey, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “Organizational Readiness for Workplace Silence: Understanding Employee Doubt and Doubt-triggered Internal Risks and Crises” in the public relations division.

9:45 – 11 a.m. – Mengqi Liao, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting, “The Magical Mystery of AI: Capturing People’s Perceptions of AI’s Magical Quality.”

9:45 – 11 a.m. – Ruoyu Sun, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting “Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: The Effects of Explanation and User Feedback on Justice Perceptions Toward AI Systems.”

9:45 – 11 a.m. – Brittany Shivers, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting, “Is Seeing Still Believing? How Humans Distinguish Photographs from AI-Generated Photo-Realistic Images,” written by Bartosz Wojdynski, professor in the Department of Journalism and Brittany Shivers, Grady College Ph.D. student

9:45 – 11 a.m. – Karin Assmann, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, is presenting, “Reporters for Democracy: Covering the Democracy Beat” in the newspaper and online news division.

12:30 – 2:30 p.m. – Juan Meng, UGA Athletic Endowed Professor and department head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is presenting, “How can researchers identify a long-term focus and build a sustainable research identity in the midst of rapidly shifting academic trends?”

3 – 4:15 p.m. – Yan Jin, C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership and professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, is a panelist for “Edelman Panel: How and When Organizations Should Address Mis/Disinformation: Understanding a Multifaceted Threat.”

4:45 – 6 p.m. – Karin Assmann, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, is moderating the Top Refereed Research Paper Session in the cultural and critical studies division.

4:45 – 6 p.m. – Jiyoung Yeon, Grady College Ph.D. student, is presenting “Women See Impact, Men See Laughs: Gender Differences in Scientists’ Perception of Humor Effectiveness and Appropriateness in Science Communication/ComSHER” in the Scholar-to-Scholar Poster session

8 p.m. – Karin Assmann, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and head of the Community Journalism Interest Group, is hosting the group’s social at Brandy Ho’s on 217 Columbia Avenue and encourage all interested in Community Journalism, in good food and company, to join us, starting 8 p.m.

Saturday, August 9

9:45 – 11 a.m. – Denetra Walker, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, is serving as the discussant for the Refereed Research Paper Session: Media, Identity, and Collective Action for Racial Justice session.

3 – 4:15 p.m. – Jonathan Peters, Grady College Carolyn McKenzie and Don E. Cater Chair for Excellence in Journalism and associate dean for academic affairs, and Leslie Klein (PhD ’24) are presenting “License to discriminate: A critical frame analysis of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis newspaper coverage.”

3 – 4:15 p.m. – Q McElroy, Grady College Ph.D. student, and Denetra Walker, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism, are presenting, “I Don’t Fit the Narrative: Sports Journalists’ Framing of Angel Reese vs Everybody.”

Juan Meng, UGA Athletic Endowed Professor and department head of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, will present the Karen Russell Award for the Most Downloaded Article at the Journal of Public Relations Research during the business meeting of the Public Relations Division. Grady College sponsors this award.

Author: Lauren A. Pike, lauren.pike@uga.edu