Communication Studies

CLOSING THE COVID VACCINATION GAP

Jackie Zhuang researches ways to persuade more Black Americans to get inoculated.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Jie “Jackie” Zhuang has been puzzled about why so many Black Americans appear reluctant to get vaccinated even though they have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.

“I need to make sense of what I see on TV every day, hear on the news and see in people around me,” said Zhuang, an assistant professor of communication studies at TCU. “The vaccine is an effective tool and has been made widely available to the public. So, what is the problem? What’s missing in health communication?”

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Film, Television and Digital Media

Statistics in Sports Broadcasts Add to Spectator Experience

Sports fandom can be an insatiable, consuming experience, with statistics serving as constant nourishment. The meals have grown in scope and scale over the years.

Dustin Hahn, assistant professor of film, television and digital media, is interested in sports fanaticism and statistics. The combination proved to be a natural segue into his research on NFL broadcasts. His 2018 study analyzed the type, frequency and presentation of numbers related to individual and team performance. Numbers are “objective, they’re simple, they can tell all sides of an issue,” he said.

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Journalism

The ethics of athletes and entertainers speaking out

Dr. Kristie Bunton has solo-authored her first book, “Having Their Say: Athletes and Entertainers and the Ethics of Speaking Out.” The book examines the ethical issues that arise when famous people speak out on issues often unrelated to the performances that brought those figures to public attention.

In her book Having Their Say: Athletes and Entertainers and the Ethics of Speaking Out (McFarland & Co., 2021), Kristie Bunton, dean of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication and professor of journalism, looks at the ethical obligations of famous athletes and entertainers for what they say and how it may affect public opinion.

Bunton’s book also urges news consumers to be judicious about their sources.

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Strategic Communication

CONNECTING THE DATA POINTS

OFTEN VIEWED AS THE FEEL-GOOD COMMUNICATORS, public relations professionals are increasingly relying on data and analytics to create messaging.

Data gathered through high-tech tools are shaping how corporations, nonprofit groups and government entities understand audiences, craft communications and measure effectiveness.

“Big companies are using software to pull in chatter around the world,” said Julie O’Neil, a professor of strategic communica­tion, the academic branch of public relations.

“They’re looking at what they know about their audience, what messages are being shared” and who is sharing the messages, said O’Neil, also associate dean of graduate studies and administration at the Bob Schieffer College of Communication.

O’Neil recently examined how educators can adjust undergraduate curricula with an eye toward integrating data into strategic communication studies.

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