Category Archives: Research

        
 
 
 
 

Knight Center director writes on presidents and racism

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How have American presidents fared in confronting racism?

Poorly, according to Knight Center director Eric Freedman and former Detroit Free Press journalist Stephen Jones, who teaches history at Central Michigan University.

President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington at the White House in 1901.

In a new column for The Conversation, Freedman and Jones say the anger over racial injustice that erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s killing has forced Americans to confront their history, including the role of presidential leadership – and lack of leadership – on racial issues. An honest assessment of American presidential leadership on race reveals a handful of courageous actions, they write, but an abundance of racist behavior, even by those remembered as equal rights supporters.

Environmental journalism student reflects on public radio internship

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By Taylor Haelterman

Taylor Haelterman

This summer I had the opportunity to work at WKAR Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate, as an environmental reporting intern.  In this position, I was able to create spots, super-spots and features that aired on “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” with written accompaniments published online.

Two of the pieces I’m most proud of are “Parks And Recreation Interest Spikes As Michigan Reopens” and “MSU Study Finds No-Till Farming Yields Long-Term Economic Benefits.”

The parks and recreation story holds a special place in my heart because it’s the first piece I ever produced for a radio station outside of Michigan State University’s student station. And the story on no-till farming makes this list because it was the story that made me realize how far my reporting skills had developed in only a couple of months. Continue reading →

Knight Center alum accepts position at Alma College

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Tony Van Witsen

Former Knight Center doctoral researcher Tony Van Witsen will begin teaching next week as a full time visiting faculty member at Alma College, a small liberal arts school in Alma, Michigan. He will be teaching two undergraduate courses, Research Methods and Relational Communication, which will mostly encompass the relationship between science and policy. Tony entered the I & M program in August of 2014 and successfully defended his dissertation this past May. His research examines news coverage of environmental controversies and complex scientific issues, particularly the ways journalists make sense of statistics.

Knight Center’s Ph.D. researcher wins paper awards at 2020 AEJMC Conference

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Leigh Anne Tiffany

Knight Center researcher, Leigh Anne Tiffany, received two paper awards at the 2020 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference this August.

Tiffany, a second-year Ph.D. student in Michigan State University’s Information and Media program, received the Top Theory Paper Award and second-place Top Student Paper Award from the Communication Theory and Methodology Division.

Her award-winning paper, titled “The Journalism-Public Relations Role Continuum,” proposes three new theoretical models for addressing the relationship between journalists and public relations practitioners, specifically how to delineate these closely connected professions. The desired outcome of this theoretical paper is to increase interdisciplinary research between journalism and public relations scholarship, as well as provide guidance for ways to better clarify these fields in future research.