What do we know about political advertising?

It can be challenging to distinguish between a paid political ad and one that is not in today’s media environment, especially on social media. News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with advertising professor Michelle Nelson about the topic. New research from Nelson and her colleagues found that most adults—even those who are politically engaged and educated—do not fully understand online targeting, […]

ICR team creates Spurlock Museum exhibit on quinceañeras

Following a Fall 2020 doctoral seminar on intersectional Latina feminist media issues at the Institute of Communications Research, Angharad Valdivia, a research professor who is also a professor of Latina and Latino studies, and her students were inspired to create a museum exhibit on quinceañeras. The team of Valdivia, ICR doctoral students Ariana Cano and […]

New professor Garza connects journalism history to the present

August 22, 2022 | Vivian La, Communications Intern Melita Garza, an award-winning journalist, media historian, and a new associate professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism, sees a reporter as a detective investigating a larger story. And she’s most interested in the stories that haven’t been told. “The idea of trying […]

Helping Students Be Wise Consumers of Media

August 5, 2022 | Tom Hanlon (College of Education) with Holly Rushakoff (College of Media) Twenty-one Illinois public school educators learned how to incorporate media literacy into their curricula this summer through an IMEDIA media literacy workshop on campus, hosted by faculty from the College of Media and College of Education. “Media literacy is especially […]

Leona Su named CAS Beckman Fellow for 2022-23

Leona Yi-Fan Su, assistant professor of advertising, was selected as a Center for Advanced Study Beckman Fellow for the 2022-23 academic year in an annual campuswide competition among faculty. This year, the center appointed 11 CAS Associates, one CAS Fellow, and four CAS Beckman Fellows—the distinction as a CAS Beckman Fellow recognizes outstanding younger fellow […]

Media students present at 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Update May 10, 2022: Congratulations to Ethan Grinberg, sophomore in computer science + advertising (pictured above), for winning the Undergraduate Research Symposium’s Outstanding Award in the category of Numbers, Data, and Computation for his poster presentation on “The Mechanisms of Misinformation: Clustering Diffusion Networks of Low Credibility Sources by Topology.” His research mentor was Jacob Fisher, […]

Leona Su’s research examines effects of humor, social media, and new technologies on science communication

Leona Yi-Fan Su, assistant professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, is interested in how humor can help people engage with science. “Science is thought of as serious,” Su said. “So you can think of humor as a way to catalyze that and make people get interested in science and be more willing […]

College of Media faculty receive University funding for projects addressing racism and social injustice

Three faculty members in the College of Media are among the first recipients of the inaugural Call to Action to Address Racism & Social Injustice Research Program. Announced by Chancellor Robert J. Jones in July 2020, the program pledges $2 million annually to prioritize research and new solutions that address racism and social injustice. Angela […]

New book examines the evolution of academic freedom at the U of I

While the topic of premarital sex among college students may seem blasé today, openly expressing an opinion on it in a student newspaper in 1960 was so offensive that it abruptly ended one university professor’s career. Although biology professor Leo Koch would never work in higher education again, his legacy was a reevaluation of First Amendment and […]

ICR student accomplishments in 2020-2021

Congratulations to our students in the Institute of Communications Research for all of their hard work in the 2020-2021 academic year. They have written articles for publication, edited a journal, presented research at conferences, and received numerous awards, grants, and honors. Below is a roundup of their accomplishments. PUBLICATIONS Craft, S., & Kristensen, M. (2020). […]

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