Tag: AEJMC

Grady College faculty and graduate students share insights at 2023 AEJMC Conference

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Faculty and graduate students from Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will present research and network with educators at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference. The 2023 conference takes place in Washington, D.C. August 7-10.

Several faculty will be honored for outstanding work including Kyser Lough, assistant professor in journalism, who co-authored “Beyond Graduation: Evaluating the Impact of University-Level Solutions Journalism Education on Journalists in the Field,” a Top Faculty Extended Abstract in the Scholastic Journalism division.

Denetra Walker, assistant professor in journalism, placed third in the Critical and Cultural Studies Division highly-regarded James Murphy Top Faculty paper competition for her paper, “Black Television Journalists and their Lens of ‘Gatekeeping Blackness.’”

Finally, alumna Jane Singer (ABJ ’76), City University of London, is the 2023 winner of the Paul J. Deutschmann Award for Excellence in Research, which recognizes a body of significant research over the course of one’s career. Singer will be recognized at the General Session on Aug. 9. Singer was the recipient of the Grady College Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award in 2017.

A day-by-day summary of sessions which faculty and graduate students are participating includes:

Monday, Aug. 7

8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Karin Assmann is a discussant for “Redefining the Scope, Value, and Influence of Community Journalism.”

8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Kyser Lough is a presenter for “The Influence of Photo Editors on Visual News Representation”  a Visual Communication division, poster session.

8:30 to 10 a.m., Hye Jin Yoon presents “The Role of Fresh Start Mindset (FSM) and Collectivistic Orientation in Mental Health Awareness Ads,” in the Visual Communication, International Communication and Advertising Divisions.

10:30 a.m. to Noon, Hye Jin Yoon and Jeong-Yeob Han, along with graduate students JaKyung Seo and Youngjee Ko, present “The Order Effects of Humor and Risk Messaging Strategies in Public Service Announcements Promoting COVID-19 Vaccinations: The Moderating Role of Trust in Science,” part of the Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk Division.

12:15 to 1:45 p.m. Juan Meng and Glenna Read are panelists discussing “Articulating your career identity,” organized by the Public Relations Division. The panel is followed by the Graduate Student Luncheon, which is sponsored by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. This is an offsite panel and event.

Tuesday, Aug. 8

8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Itai Himelboim is a discussant for “Social Media Effects, Mood and Image,” a Scholar to Scholar (poster) session.

8:30 to 10 a.m., Juan Meng discusses “The Online Media and Global Communication: Bridging scholarship between the global north and the global south.” This invitation-only breakfast event is organized and sponsored by our partner university, School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Shanghai International Studies University.

12:30 to 2 p.m., Yan Jin and graduate student Wenqing Zhao are presenters for “Public Affairs, Public Opinion, and Public Relations,” a Public Relations Division Refereed Research Paper Session. The presentation is titled “Pushing Hands and Buttons: The Effects of Corporate Social Issue Stance Communication and Online Comment (In)Civility on Publics’ Emotional and Behavioral Responses.”

12:30 to 2:00 p.m., Bart Wojdynski, Kyser Lough and graduate student Sohyun Park are presenters for “Effects of Visuals in Solutions Journalism: A Social Media Eye-Tracking Experiment,” a Newspaper and Online News division, paper session.

2:30 to 4 p.m., Karin Assmann moderates the research panel “It’s About Power, Stupid! (Re)Exploring Critical and Cultural Studies.”

2:30 to 4 p.m., Juan Meng is a teaching panelist for “Let’s Go Team! Fostering dynamic teamwork for career readiness,“ a panel co-sponsored by the Public Relations Division and the Internship and Careers Interest Group.

6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Kyser Lough presents at “Beyond Graduation: Evaluating the Impact of University-Level Solutions Journalism Education on Journalists in the Field,” a Scholastic Journalism division, Top Paper session.

Wednesday, Aug. 9

Noon to 1:30 p.m., Itai Himelboim and doctoral student Jeonghyun Janice Lee are presenters for “If It Bleeds, It Doesn’t Lead: Emotional Appeal and Engagement in an Immigration and Election Conversation on Twitter,” AEJ Scholar to Scholar (poster) session.

6 to 9 p.m., Karin Assmann moderates the Cultural and Critical Studies Divisions Top Research Paper session.

Thursday, Aug. 10

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Kyser Lough and recent undergraduates Cassidy Moore (AB ’23) and Anna Chapman (AB ’23) present “Evaluating Ethical Community Representation in Photojournalism Through Feature Photographs and Demographic Congruence” a Media Ethics division, paper session.

Grady College faculty and graduate students share research at AEJMC 2022 conference

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Faculty and graduate students from Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will chair committees, present research and network with educators at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference. The 2022 conference takes place in Detroit Aug. 3 – 6, 2022.

Among the highlights for Grady faculty and graduate students this year are several awards, including Solyee Kim (PhD ’22), who will receive the top student paper award in the Public Relations division. Kim’s paper, “Social Identity Signaling in Public Relations: Recruitment of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Practitioners,” will be presented during a session called “Referred Top Student Papers,” at 9:30 a.m. on Sat, Aug. 6. She will be recognized for her honor at the end of a session called “Referred Top Open Papers,” starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5.

Jonathan Peters of our faculty, along with Leslie Klein, a Ph.D. student, will accept the award for Top Faculty paper of the Scholastic Journalism Division. The topic of their paper is “Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. and Regulating Off-Campus Student Expression: The Good News For College Student Journalists.”

Several faculty hold leadership positions at AEJMC, as well. At the conclusion of this year’s conference Karin Assmann will assume her role as vice head of the Cultural and Critical Studies Division. Jonathan Peters serves as research chair of the Law and Policy Division, and Yan Jin is on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Relations Research (JPRR).

The Karen Russell Award of Most Downloaded Article in 2021 at Journal of Public Relations Research will be presented by the Public Relations Division. This year’s award will be presented to Nneka Logan of the School of Communication at Virginia Tech.

The following provides a listing of presentations and panels by College faculty:

Wednesday, Aug. 3

8:30 to 10 a.m. Kyser Lough is the discussant for the “Consumers, Identification and Social Media” refereed paper session in the Visual Communication Division.

8:30 to 10 a.m. Ja Kyung Seo and Yan Jin present “Mask-wearing as an unspoken statement of one’s identity during the COVID-19 pandemic” as part of the Scholar-to-Scholar Session, Topic IX: COVID-19, Identity, and the Self.

12:30 to 2 p.m. Kyser Lough leads “Exploring the Photo Bill of Rights,” a Professional Freedom & Responsibility panel, co-sponsored by the Visual Communication and Law and Policy divisions.

12:30 to 2 p.m. Karin Assmann and Alexander Pfeuffer serve on a panel co-sponsored by the Advertising Division and the Newspaper and Online News Division, “Pushing Fuzzy Boundaries: Advertising, Journalism Ethics and Professional Identities in Branded Newsrooms.”

2:30 to 4 p.m., Michael Cacciatore‘s research will be presented during a poster session. The presenter will be Henry Allen of the University of Utah.

Thursday, Aug. 4

7 a.m. Journal of Public Relations Research (JPRR) Editorial Board Meeting. Yan Jin serves on the editorial board.

10:30 a.m. Karin Assmann is moderator and panelist for “Change Comes from the Top: Bringing Diversity into Newsroom Leadership” co-sponsored with the Divisions Mass Communication and Society and Media Management and Entrepreneurship.

12:15 p.m., Glen Nowak and Yan Jin are panelists for the Public Relations Division Graduate Student Luncheon. They will talk about “Cross-National, Cross-Disciplinary, and Cross-Institutional Collaboration.” The event takes place at Andiamo Detroit Riverfront Restaurant and is sponsored by Grady College.

12:30 – 2 p.m. Karin Assmann is moderating a high-density paper panel sponsored by the International Communication Division.

2:30 – 4 p.m. Karin Assmann and Alexander Pfeuffer are presenting their poster “Fuzzy Boundaries: Journalists Telling Branded Stories” as part of the Advertising Division’s session titled “Advertising Innovations: Influencers, ASMR, Gamification, Story Telling, and Nation Branding”

2:30 – 4 p.m. Karin Assmann is moderating a research paper session co-sponsored by the Communication Technology and Political Communication Divisions with the theme “Politics of Content Moderation: Deplatforming Right-Wing Users and the Emergence of Alternative Social Media.”

Friday, Aug. 5

8:30-10 a.m. Location to be determined. Glen Nowak is a panelist for a session titled “Addressing Sensitive and Controversial Topics in Class,” which is focus on efforts and strategies for effectively discussing sensitive and controversial issues in class without stigmatization and discrimination.

2-3:30 p.m. Carlo Finlay serves on a panel called “Capitalizing on NIL: Feministic perspectives on Name, Image and Likeness,” presented by the Commission on the Status of Women and Law and Policy Division.

4 p.m. William Newlin (MA ’22) and Karin Assmann are presenting their paper “From Liberal Bias to Fake News” about Sean Hannity’s anti-press rhetoric during Presidential election seasons from 2012-2020 during a session sponsored by the Political Communication Division.

5 to 5: 30 p.m.: Leslie Klein and Jonathan Peters, “Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. and Regulating Off-Campus Student Expression: The Good News For College Student Journalists,” Scholastic Journalism Division. This paper is the winner of the Top Faculty Paper Award.

Congratulations sign for Jon Peters and Leslie Klein for Top Faculty Paper at AEJMC

6 to 8 p.m.: Solyee Kim accepts her Top Student Paper Award at the end of the “Referred Top Student Papers” presentation.

6 to 8 p.m.: Jonathan Peters moderates a Top Paper Panel for the Law and Policy Division.

Saturday, Aug. 6

9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Refereed Top Student Papers: Solyee Kim will present her paper, which is the winner of Top Student Paper Award in the Public Relations division. Her paper was titled “Social Identity Signaling in Public Relations: Recruitment of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ Practitioners.”

9.30 a.m. Karin Assmann is moderating the Cultural and Critical Studies Division refereed paper session “Critical Studies in Journalism”

Congratulations Sign for AEJMC Top Student Paper Award for Solyee Kim

Clementson teaches professors how to help PR students get internships and jobs

Posted on by Sarah Freeman
AEJMC panel discussion focuses on ethics in the profession

David Clementson, assistant professor of public relations at Grady College, was an invited speaker at a panel teaching other public relations professors how to help their students get good jobs in the industry.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Public Relations division hosted the symposium Feb. 25, entitled “Great Ideas for Teaching.”

About 180 public relations professors from across the U.S. attended.

Clementson outlined a series of nine detailed and creative class assignments as part of a project which equips PR students for entering the market for internships and jobs.

“Our goal in the classroom should be to confidently and comfortably ease students into the professional world of public relations,” Clementson said. “This can include a holistic approach to preparing students with the proper toolkit and expectations while also alleviating their emotional concerns as the process can induce anxiety.”

Clementson also proposes incorporating an ethically-minded focus into the curriculum. The overriding aim, according to Clementson, is to empower students to rise above the potential competition by demonstrating to prospective employers that the applicant is prepared for ethical quandaries that inevitably arise in the competitive and challenging public relations industry.

“Clementson’s classroom project smartly combines an emphasis on getting good jobs and internships, with ethical best practices,” said Pamela Brubaker of Brigham Young University, chair of the AEJMC Public Relations Division’s Teaching Committee.

Stephanie Mahin of the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School, also a leader of the Public Relations Division’s Teaching committee, added: “I hope other professors will consider employing ideas like Clementson’s project into their curriculum, as we try to do what we can to make teaching a little easier amidst all the pressures on us and the exceedingly competitive realm of PR where ethically-minded professionalism is needed now more than ever.”

“It is an impressive series of strategies to calm the nerves and prepare the professionalism of public relations students entering the workforce,” said Nneka Logan of Virginia Tech, who moderated the panel.

Joseph Stabb, APR, of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a leader in the AEJMC Public Relations Division who helped organize the panel, added: “Through our ‘Great Ideas for Teaching,’ we strive to help public relations educators employ the best teaching in their classrooms. Today’s panel put the spotlight on innovative ways we can embolden students getting the most out of their diploma with good jobs upon graduation.”

Clementson was one of three presenters from across the U.S. who were invited to present their teaching strategies at the event, which was held virtually via Zoom on Feb. 25. The symposium was hosted by Amanda Weed of Kennesaw State University and Stabb, and was moderated by Logan.

AEJMC’s PR Division is the largest organization of public relations educators in the world. The division has more than 400 members from institutions of higher learning in the United States and about two dozen countries around the world.

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed receives accolades at annual AEJMC conference

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, assistant professor in Entertainment and Media Studies, is receiving two awards for her paper, “Decolonizing Methodologies in Media Studies,” at the 2021 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference.

Additionally, Mohammed has been selected as a 2021 Kopenhaver Fellow, a program helping female faculty members through mentoring, networking and preparing for tenure and promotion.

Mohammed’s paper was inspired in part by her dissertation that she wrote while a doctoral student at the Pennsylvania State University. A native of Tamale, Ghana, Mohammed studied sociocultural contexts where she collects feedback from women about the impact of films they watch and the news they listen to.

“I want to understand the way these women engage films, including what drew them to want to watch them and what they thought society’s impression was of the films,” Mohammed explained.  “I also wanted to see how their personal experiences and values shaped the films they watched and what they took away from those films.”

Mohammed is receiving first place in Faculty Paper Awards, also known as the Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition, as well as the Best Paper Award for African Journalism Studies in the International Communication Division.

In addition to the topic of the paper, Mohammed works hard to ensure her data is authentic, which can be difficult when studying marginalized communities. She obtains her data through customizing focus groups that mirror typical conversations that women have with one another. The goal is to obtain transparent answers from the women away from the patriarchal influence of men in the community.

“I pulled from the local indigenous knowledge systems to guide my engagement of this community as a whole,” Mohammed said. “I looked at the way we engage with each other on a daily basis and the importance of human dignity and respect regardless of class, ethnicity and gender.”

Another recent paper by Mohammed, “Why we need intersectionality in Ghanaian feminist politics and discourses,” received an honorable mention in the 2021 Stuart Hall Award at the International Association for Media and Communication Research conference earlier this summer. This paper mapped the evolution of feminist discourses in Ghana, paying attention to the gaps in feminist theory and practice.

 

Grady College faculty and graduate students participate in the AEJMC 2020 Virtual Conference

Posted on by admin

Faculty and graduate students from Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will present research findings, participating in panels and receiving awards at the 103rd annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference Aug. 6-9, 2020. The conference was originally set in San Francisco and is now an online virtual event due to COVID-19. 

All times below are noted as Pacific time zone unless noted otherwise.

The AEJMC is an educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals.

Awards

Graduate students Jeffrey Duncan and Taylor Voges co-authored a paper, receiving the James Carey Award as the Top Student Paper in the Cultural and Critical Studies Division. The award-winning paper is titled “EULAs as Unbalanced Contractual Power Between an Organization and its (Unannounced and Underage) Users: A Mobile Game Textual Analysis.” It will be presented Aug. 9 at 11 a.m.

Jeong (Janice) Hyun Lee and Solyee Kim were selected to participate in the 2020 AEJMC Presidential Diversity & Inclusion Career Development Fellowship for Graduate Students.

Solyee Kim is receiving the third-place award for a student paper in the Minorities and Communication Division (MAC) for “Communicating the Culture Through Korean Food Between Authenticity and Adaptation.” Kim is also receiving the AEJMC MAC Dr. Carolyn Stroman New Graduate Membership Award.

Grady Ph.D. student Shuoya Sun, along with Associate Professor Bart Wojdynski, Ph.D. student Matt Binford, and undergraduate student Charan Ramachandran received an award for the third-place paper in the Advertising Division. The award-winning paper is called, “How Multitasking During Video Content Decreases Ad Effectiveness: The Roles of Task Relevance, Video Involvement, and Visual Attention”, and the paper will be presented at 3 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, August 8.

Below are the Grady College faculty and graduate students who are presenting at this year’s conference.

Wednesday, Aug. 5 (pre-conference day — all times are in the Pacific time zone)

1-5 p.m. – Jonathan Peters (associate professor in journalism) is moderating a panel, “Inclusivity and Teaching Sensitive Topics.”

1-5 p.m. — María Len-Ríos (associate dean, academic affairs) is a panelist for “Women Faculty Moving Forward: 100 Years from Suffrage to Academic Leadership.”

Thursday, Aug. 6 (all times are in the Pacific time zone)

8:15-9:45 a.m. – Jonathan Peters (associate professor in journalism) is presenting an extended abstract and refereed paper, “Virtual Assemblies: Exploring Problems of Private Spaces and Press Protections.”

11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. – Kyser Lough (assistant professor in journalism) presents a refereed paper, “Judging photojournalism: The Metajournalistic Discourse of Judges in Two Photojournalism Competitions.”

1:30-3 p.m. – Jihoon (Jay) Kim (Ph.D. student), Joe Phua (associate professor in advertising), Nah Ray Han (Ph.D. student) and Taeyon Kim (Ph.D. student) present a refereed paper, “Investigating the Impact of Immersive Advertising on Attitude Toward the Brand: The Mediating Roles of Perceived Novelty, Perceived Interactivity, and Attitude toward the Advertisement.”

1:30-3 p.m. – Kyser Lough (assistant professor in journalism) is a panelist for, “Solutions Photojournalism: Visually Reporting Beyond the Problem-based Narrative.”

1:30-3 p.m. – Marilyn Primovic (Ph.D. student) and Joe Phua (associate professor in advertising) present a refereed paper, “Comparing Expectancy Violations Committed by Influencer Advertising Sources on Social Media.”

1:30-3 p.m. – Michael Cacciatore (associate professor in public relations) co-authored a refereed paper, “‘That’s Some Positive Energy’: How Social Media Users Respond to #Funny Science Content.”

1:30-3 p.m. – Taylor Voges (Ph.D. student) and Matthew Binford (Ph.D. student) present a refereed paper, “So Ordered: A Textual Analysis of United States Governors Press Release Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

1:30-3 p.m. — Karen Russell (associate professor of public relations), moderates a panel about “History and Public Relations Divisions Research.”

3:15-4:45 p.m. — Itai Himelboim (associate professor of advertising) has a submission in “Social Media, Civil Engagement, and Democracy” in the refereed paper session.

5-6:30 p.m. – Yan Jin (professor of public relations) presents a refereed paper, “Theoretical Advancements in Crisis Communication Research: Crisis Response Strategies.”

5-6:30 p.m. — Matt Binford (Ph.D. student) and Bart Wojdynski (associate professor) present a refereed paper, “’I Probably Just Skipped Over It:” Using Eye Tracking to Examine Political Facebook Advertising Effectiveness.”

5-6:30 p.m. — Karen Russell (associate professor of public relations) is a discussant of “Public Relations, Scholar-to-Scholar Refereed Paper Session, Topic X – Social Media and Dialogic Communication.”

Friday, Aug. 7 (all times are in the Pacific time zone)

8:15-9:45 a.m. – Solyee Kim (Ph.D. student) and Hyoyeun Jun (Salve Regina University) present a refereed paper, “First-generation Immigrants’ and Sojourners’ Susceptibility to Disinformation.”

8:15-9:45 a.m. — Ph.D. students Tong Xie, Xuerong Lu, Jiaying Liu, have a submission in “Topic IV – Refugees, Immigrants, and “Others”

10-11:30 a.m. – Karin Assmann (assistant professor in journalism) is presenting a refereed paper, “We Are the People – Audience Engagement as Catalyst for Newsroom Unionization.”

11:45 a.m. – Jeffrey Duncan (Ph.D. student) and Taylor Voges (Ph.D. student) receive the Top Student Paper Award in the Critical and Cultural Studies Division.

11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. – Solyee Kim (Ph.D. student) presents a refereed paper, “Communicating the Culture Through Korean Food Between Authenticity and Adaptation.”

5-6:30 p.m. – Dongjae Lim (Ph.D. student) and Nah Ray Han (Ph.D. student) present a refereed paper, “Choosing Appropriate Colors for Green Advertising: Perceived Greenwashing through Color Choices.”

5-6:30 p.m.  Porismita Borah (Washington State University), Itai Himelboim (associate professor), Bryan Trude (Ph.D. student), Matt Binford (Ph.D. student) and Kate Keib (Oglethorpe University) present a refereed paper, “You Are a Disgrace and Traitor to Our Country: Uncivil Rhetoric Against ‘The Squad’ on Twitter.

Saturday, Aug. 8 (all times are in the Pacific time zone)

8:15-9:45 a.m. – Nah Ray Han (Ph.D. student) presents a refereed paper, “Ethical Consumption as Fetishism.”

1:15-2:45 p.m. — María Len-Ríos (associate dean, academic affairs) moderates the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Elected Standing Committee on Research, Award panel session and the Deutschmann Award.

3-4:30 p.m. — María Len-Ríos (associate dean, academic affairs) is a panelist for “Addressing Diversity and Inclusion in the Practice and Scholarship of Science Communication.”

3-4:30 p.m. Shuoya Sun (Ph.D. student), Bart Wojdynski (associate professor), Matt Binford (Ph.D. Student), and Charan Ramachandran (undergraduate student) will present a refereed paper, “How Multitasking During Video Content Decreases Ad Effectiveness: The Roles of Task Relevance, Video Involvement, and Visual Attention.”

Sunday, Aug. 9 (all times are in the Pacific time zone)

9:15-10:45 a.m. — Itai Himelboim (associate professor of advertising) is a panelist for “From Silicon Valley Virtual Communitities to Trump Twitter Networks: Political Social Networks Visualized.”

9:15-10:45 a.m. — María Len-Ríos (associate dean, academic affairs) is a moderator for the Research Chairs training session.

11-12:30 p.m. – Jeffrey Duncan (Ph.D. student) and Taylor Voges (Ph.D. student) present a refereed paper, “EULAs as Unbalanced Contractual Power Between an Organization and its (Unannounced and Underage) Users: A Mobile Game Textual Analysis.”

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Matt Binford (Ph.D. student) and Laura Hudgens (Ph.D. student) will present a refereed paper, “Fun in the Sun or Something More Serious? An Analysis of News Story Visuals About Heat Waves.”

Scholarships help doctoral students with summer research

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

While many Grady College students were enjoying summer internships or travel, others were continuing the work they do throughout the school year—researching communications topics that often contribute to dissertation proposals.

Sixteen doctoral students were awarded scholarships this summer to offset research expenses. The scholarships were awarded from the Paul C. and Margaret B. Broun Student Support Fund.

“The scholarship funds I received during my first year of the Ph.D. program at Grady College are significant in helping me achieve my research goals and aide me in finding my identity as a scholar,” Andrea Briscoe said.

Briscoe, who is starting her second year as a graduate student, focused most of her research this summer on gender and visual media, a topic she presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference last week.

The funds offset the costs of travel to the conference in Toronto.

The Broun Scholarship helped support Andrea Briscoe’s conference travels to Toronto, her first international trip. (Photo: courtesy of Andrea Briscoe.)

Briscoe continued: “While attending conferences are the expectation for graduate students, this conference meant more to me than a line on my CV. With help through funding of the graduate program along with this scholarship, I was able to share the work I had done on gender and reality television with a diverse group of people. I was able to sit in the same room with incredible scholars and creative thinkers and learn from them. But most importantly, I received numerous calls and texts from family where they shared how proud they were of me.”

Hyoyeun Jun, another doctoral student who was granted a scholarship from the Broun fund, also conducted research this summer that was presented at the AEJMC conference and will serve as a foundation for her dissertation.

Her research focuses on developing the most effective messages to overcome the stigma surrounding HPV and to increase behavioral intention by young adults to get vaccinated. She spent the summer gathering data on risk tolerance, or how individuals tolerate new health risks. The information will be used to determine what factors influence people not to behave in a certain way. Jun presented some of the qualitative research findings at AEJMC.

Jun, who is a native of South Korea and is studying here with a student visa, has specific requirements for work, including the fact that she cannot work outside of campus. Therefore, the funds from the scholarship are a vital form of support.

“With generous support from Grady scholarships, I could sustain myself better,” Jun said. “I could concentrate better on my research, not worrying about how I am going to pay my rent and get groceries. I am very thankful that Grady awarded me scholarships additional to my assistantship during the semester.”

Len-Ríos elected to AEJMC Research Committee

Posted on by Dayne Young

María E. Len-Ríos, Grady College’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and professor of public relations, has been elected to a second term on the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Elected Standing Committee on Research.

She is one of nine newly elected officers to AEJMC. New officers were nominated and elected by a national voting body that comprises roughly 3,7000 members. The AEJMC national conference will be held this year Aug. 7 – 10 in Toronto.

“AEJMC was the first national organization I joined as a journalism and mass communication researcher, and it gives me great pleasure to serve in a leadership role providing Grady College and UGA added representation at the national level,” Len-Ríos said.

Among other responsibilities, Len-Ríos and fellow research committee members oversee nomination and selection processes for AEJMC’s prestigious national awards and represent research interests on the AEJMC Board.

Len-Ríos has served in a variety of roles with AEJMC in her professional academic career, including serving as head of the Communication Theory and Methodology Division. Most recently in 2018-2019, she chaired the Nafzinger-White-Salwen Dissertation Award competition which is AEJMC’s top honor for dissertation research. She says her passion for scholarship fuels her desire to recognize the elite work being done by communication researchers.

“I love it because we get to reward the great creativity and research produced by scholars from across the U.S. and internationally at all career levels,” said Len-Ríos.

Len-Ríos’ service to the research committee begins October 1, 2019.

She came to Grady College as a public relations associate professor in 2014. Prior to the University of Georgia, she taught at the University of Missouri, University of Kansas, and Georgia Southern University.

Here is a list of 2019 Grady College participation at AEJMC in Toronto.

Grady College faculty and graduate students participate in 2019 AEJMC conference

Posted on by Dayne Young

Faculty and graduate students from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will present research findings, receive awards and participate in panels at the 102nd annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference Aug 7-10, 2019, in Toronto, Canada.

The AEJMC is an educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and media professionals.

Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn is receiving the AEJMC Kreighbaum Under-40 Award. The Krieghbaum Under-40 Award is one of the AEJMC’s highest honors and is awarded to a single member under 40 years of age for outstanding achievement and effort in teaching, research and public service.

María E. Len-Ríos has been elected to a second term on the AEJMC’s Elected Standing Committee on Research.

Michael Cacciatore co-authored a paper, receiving the Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly Outstanding Research Article Award for “Is Facebook making us dumber? Exploring social media use as a predictor of political knowledge.”

Below are the Grady College faculty and graduate students who are participating at this year’s conference.

 

Tuesday, Aug. 6 

1-5 p.m. – Jonathan Peters is presiding over a pre-conference workshop, “Emerging Issues in Media Law.”

1-6 p.m. – Carolina Acosta-Alzuru is the speaker focusing on pedagogy in doctoral education in a pre-conference workshop for Graduate Directors.

 

Wednesday, Aug. 7

1:30-3:00 p.m. – Welch Suggs is a panelist on “The Future of Sports Magazines: Old Guard, New Niches.”

3:15-4:45 p.m. – Kyser Lough presents a refereed paper, “Journalism’s Visual Construction of Place in Environmental Coverage.

5-6:30 p.m. –Matt Binford (Grady Ph.D. student), Bartosz Wojdynski, Yen-l Lee (Grady Ph.D. student), Shuoya Sun (Grady Ph.D. student), and Andrea Briscoe (Grady Ph.D. student) present the refereed paper, “Who Paid for What? The Role of visual Attention to Content and Disclosures in Facebook Political Advertising.”

 

Thursday, Aug. 8

8:15-9:45 a.m. – Bartosz Wojdynski is the discussant for the session, “Top Faculty Papers in the Communication and Technology Division.”

8:15-9:45 a.m. Andrea Briscoe (Grady Ph.D. Student) will present the refereed paper, “Colton, Coitus, and Comedy: Male Virginity as a Punch Line on the Bachelor.”

8:15-9:45 a.m. – Joe Phua, Seunga Venus Jin (Emerson College), and Jihoon (Jay) Kim (Grady Ph.D. student), present a refereed paper, “Interaction Effects of Source Type and Message Valence in Instagram-based Advertising Messages about Veganism.”

11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. – Juan Meng is a panelist for, “Empowering women in PR: Breaking through ethical and leadership challenges.”

11:45 a.m. -1:15 p.m. Brittany Jefferson (Grady Ph.D. student) presents the refereed paper, “Summer of ’67: A Comparative Analysis of Coverage of the Detroit Race Riots.”

11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. – Itai Himelboim is a panelist for, “Strategic Use of Social Media and Social Media Data for Science and Health Communication.”

5-6:30 p.m. – Bartosz Wojdynski, Ivanka Pjesivac, Jihoon (Jay) Kim (Grady Ph.D. student), and Matt Binford (Grady Ph.D. student), and Keith Herndon present a refereed paper, “Look Around and Learn: Effects of 360-Degree Video in Online News.”

5-6:30 p.m. –Logan Molyneux (Temple University) and Bartosz Wojdynski present a refereed paper, “Guilt by Association: How Chum Box Advertising Affects News Readers’ Perceptions.”

5-6:30 p.m. – Welch Suggs moderates a paper session, “Sports Branding, Promotion and Public Relations.”

 

Friday, Aug. 9

8:15-9:45 a.m. – John Soloski and Ryan Kor-Sins (University of Utah) discuss, “Hegemonic Masculinity in the 2016 Presidential Campaign: How Breitbart Framed Trump as the ‘Uber’ Male.”

8:15-9:45 a.m. – Jinho Joo, Yoon-Joe Lee (Washington State Unversity) and Hye Jin Yoon lead a theme discussion, “Independent Self-Construal and System-Generated Cues: Causal Attribution in Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns.”

9:30-11 a.m. – Yan Jin is a panelist on Faculty Panel at PR Division’s Grad Student Bruncheon, Theme: “Finding Your Niche”. [Offsite Location: Batch, 75 Victoria St]

10-11:15 a.m. – Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn awarded Hillier Kreighbaum Under-40 Award

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. – María Len-Ríos, Patricia Moy (University of Washington) and Ivanka Pjesivac lead a theme discussion, “Latino Trust in Journalists and the 2016 U.S. General Election: An Analysis of Voter Responses.”

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. – Jonathan Peters presents a refereed paper, “I Also Consider Myself a First Amendment Lawyer.”

3-4:30 p.m. – Xuerong Lu (Grady Ph.D. student), Yan Jin, and Taeyeon Kim (Grady Ph.D. student) lead a theme discussion, “Information Vetting as a Key Component in Social-mediated Crisis Communication: An Exploratory Study.”

3-4:30 p.m. – Juan Meng is the discussant for the session, “Crisis Communication: Response Strategies.”

3-4:30 p.m. –Hyoyeun Jun (Grady Ph.D. student), Youngji Seo (Grady Ph.D. student), Andrea Briscoe (Grady Ph.D. student), Charan Ramachandran (Grady CURO undergraduate research fellow), and Bartosz Wojdynski will present a refereed paper, “Fighting the Tide: How U.S. Health Organizations use Twitter to Address the Opioid Crisis.”

 

Saturday, Aug. 10

11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. –DongJae (Jay) Lim (Grady Ph.D. student), Shuoya Sun (Grady Ph.D. student), and Bartosz Wojdynski present a refereed paper, “When Online Behavioral Advertising Mistargets: The Underlying Mechanism of Its Negative Impact.”

Grace Ahn named 2019 Krieghbaum Under-40 Award recipient

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn, associate professor of advertising at Grady College, has been named the recipient of the 2019 Krieghbaum Under-40 Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The award is one of the highest honors given by AEJMC, and will be presented during the annual AEJMC conference in Toronto.

“This is an enormous honor,” said Charles Davis, dean of Grady College. “The entire journalism and mass communication academy recognizes a single faculty member each year for this, so Grace has been recognized by the entire discipline.”

In addition to her role as associate professor, Ahn is also the director of the Games and Virtual Environments Lab and co-director of the new VERGE Lab.

The award is named after the late Hillier Krieghbaum, a former professor at New York University and former president of AEJMC, to honor a journalism/communication faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to the industry in three key areas: teaching, research and public service.

Grace Ahn (right) leads an Alumni Weekend participant in a virtual reality workshop in 2017. (Photo: Camie Williams)

Ahn teaches undergraduate research methods classes, as well as graduate-level user experience research, communication theory and advertising classes.

Ahn’s research specializes in how interactive digital media transforms traditional rules of communication and social interactions, especially through virtual reality applications with regard to health, consumer psychology, conservation and education. Currently, she is working on a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for “The Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem” encouraging children to have a more active lifestyle by using digital technology and incenting them with rewards through virtual reality interaction. In Spring 2019, Ahn received a First-Year Odyssey Teaching Award from the UGA Office of Instruction for her seminar, “Harnessing the Power of Digital Technology for Better Lifestyle Choices,” and was awarded the Charles B. Knapp Early-Career Scholar Award in 2017. She was recently awarded an Interdisciplinary Seed Grant from UGA for an upcoming project using digital technology to bring families of deployed military together in virtual family rooms. She also received the 2017 AEJMC Emerging Scholar Grant.

“Emerging technologies like VR/AR have the potential to dramatically shift the way we communicate and interact with each other,” Ahn said of her work. “My research looks at how audiences can engage with virtual worlds in unprecedented ways, and how these virtual experiences impact the way people think and make decisions in the physical world. I’m incredibly honored and humbled to be recognized for the contributions that my work has been making to extend the earlier work in this area.”

Ahn will accept her Krieghbaum Under-40 Award during the General Session at the AEJMC Conference on Aug. 9 at 10 a.m.

In addition to Ahn, Yan Jin, the UGA Athletic Association Professor in Grady College, received the Krieghbaum Under-40 Award in 2014.