Grady Research Radio

For many, watching television is a part of daily life, and those clips that show up on screens can begin to leave a lasting impression. Television shows’ portrayals of different people and groups, even in subtle ways, can influence the way individuals and cultures are perceived.

Understanding this, Dr. Laurena Bernabo, an assistant professor in the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies, uses television as a lens to look into issues surrounding race, gender and sexuality. She studies how these issues are being communicated to the public and used as entertainment to make sense of changing social relations. She also studies public responses to these portrayals.

In this episode, Dr. Bernabo dives in to some of her research, including a past project, for which she spent time in Mexico City observing how those working on the Spanish language broadcast of "Glee" dubbed over the voices, and her more recent work, which focuses on public response to depictions of single fathers on television.

In this episode, we speak with Moni Basu, an award-winning journalist and author and the director of our Master in Fine Arts in Narrative Nonfiction program. The Low-Residency Master in Fine Arts in Narrative Nonfiction program, based in Grady College, bridges the gap between journalism and literature, preparing students to not only produce impactful pieces, but also to have them published.

The two-year, online degree program, which is flexible enough to allow students to continue on with their existing lives, prepares students with narrative journalism skills, pairs them with accomplished industry mentors, provides them with a writing community for life and gives them the tools and connections they need to have their work published.

The film industry in Georgia is flourishing. Generating $4.4 billion for the state last fiscal year, film and TV productions made in Georgia include a long list of box office top earning feature films, streaming programming, commercials, music videos and independent films. Spider-Man: No Way Home, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Stranger Things, and Loki are just several of the hundreds of productions made in Georgia in recent years.

So, it only makes sense for the University of Georgia to have a top of the line MFA film program, capable of pumping highly trained filmmakers into the marketplace. In this episode, we speak with Neil Landau, the executive director of the MFA in Film Television and Digital Media, about what the program has to offer.

The application deadline to join the program’s next cohort is Feb. 15, 2023.

In 2021, after hearing that the Oglethorpe Echo, the community paper of Clarke County’s neighbor, Oglethorpe County, was shutting its doors, Grady College devised a plan to save it.

For over a year now, after transitioning the paper to a nonprofit, the Oglethorpe Echo has been staffed by student journalists. Dr. Amanda Bright, the director of the Journalism Innovation Lab for the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership, and the instructor of the capstone journalism class that staffs the Echo, recently published an article on the project titled “Listening for The Echo: How Our Students Are Stepping Into, Embracing Community Journalism.”

In this episode, Dr. Bright speaks about the origins of the program, training student journalists in community reporting, the adjustments and advancements made to the Oglethorpe Echo over the past year, what students gain from the experience, and the replicability of the program.

Brands and organizations want to attract consumers and gain their trust. Accomplishing both of these tasks, though, is no easy feat. Two factors that greatly impact the attractiveness of advertisements and consumer trust are the personalization of advertisements — adding names and images to ads, for example — and disclosing if and how an advertisement, whether its an image, video or user review, may be manipulated or influenced by a brand.

In this episode, Dr. Alexander Pfeuffer, an assistant professor of advertising in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Grady College, speaks about his research addressing those very questions.

With the Dec. 6 Senate runoff election in Georgia soon approaching, the Grady Research Radio podcast brought back Dr. David Clementson, an assistant professor in Public Relations at Grady College and a political communication researcher, to discuss the communication strategies of Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker heading into the election.

The current media landscape is full of unreliable and deceptive information, through deep fakes, click bait, conspiracies and more. With advancements in technology and the sheer amount of information out there, discerning between what is real and fake has perhaps never been more challenging.

With this issue in mind, Grady College’s James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership has established the Certificate in News Literacy, open to any student at the University of Georgia. The program equips students with concepts and tools they need to recognize the difference between truth and falsehoods.

To learn more about the program, including what courses are offered, what students gain, and how to get started, the Grady Research Radio podcast sat down with Dr. Keith Herndon, the executive director of the Cox Institute, the William S. Morris Chair in News Strategy and Management and director of the Cox Institute’s Certificate in News Literacy, and Charlotte Norsworthy, a part-time instructor at Grady College, the editorial director of The Red & Black, and the program coordinator for the Certificate in News Literacy.

A discussion with game studies researcher, author and associate professor in the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies Dr. Shira Chess about her research, why video games may not get the attention they deserve, and what the future may hold for the field. 

Leading up to the midterm elections in Georgia, this episode features a discussion with Joseph Watson, Jr., the Carolyn Caudell Tieger Professor of Public Affairs Communications in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Grady College, about the state of political advertisements. Watson has over 20 years of experience working in public affairs, campaigns and communications.

Leading up to the midterm elections in the state of Georgia, this episode features a discussion with Dr. David Clementson, an assistant professor in Public Relations at Grady College and a political communication researcher, about the state of political debates, whether they have any real influence, why some politicians shy away from debates, the art of dodging questions and more.