207 FACULTY & STAFF Students best knew Dr. Ginger Blackstone, associate professor of communication, for her media and television expertise. However, during 2022 they saw a different side of her journalistic skill as she partnered with other researchers to publish a study. Blackstone was one of three researchers who worked on a study examining the way news media framed the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in May 2020. The idea for this project came from a research study Blackstone worked on in graduate school where she and her cohort examined media coverage of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown Jr. After the 2020 protests, Blackstone reached out to her former classmate Holly Cowart. Blackstone suggested they revisit the framework of their previous study and apply it to the media coverage of the recent events. The study took an abundance of time and revisions. “This process is a long one,” Blackstone said. “It took a good year. We really worked on the revisions this whole past year, and then you resubmit and wait, and wait, and wait, and then two months later, they finally get back to you.” After months of research and writing, Blackstone’s team submitted their research-in-progress paper in December 2020, when it was presented at a virtual conference. From there, they worked on revisions until they submitted the study for publication in summer 2021. Over a year later, in September 2022, it was published in the peer-reviewed academic journal “Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.” Following this accomplishment, Blackstone emphasized how research tied into her profession. “It took me a long time to realize that journalism and research are not that different,” Blackstone said. “You know, it’s deeper, but you’re still going in search of facts and information.” Seniors Halle Miller and Gabi Gonzalez also used their curiosity in research projects of their own and learned about the process firsthand. Miller, who spent the summer assisting associate professor of engineering James Huff in conducting his own research study, shared her appreciation of gaining experience in this kind of process. “It was really cool to see high-level research being done [and] just to be a part of it and to see how eventually that will contribute to the wealth of knowledge in that area,” Miller said. “It makes me more appreciative of what we learned in school. All of that has come from research.” Gonzalez had a similar experience when she conducted her own research study for the McNair Scholars Program. Gonzalez emphasized the importance of helping others. “We can help other people — college students or professors, or people trying to get their master’s — kind of help them with their research, because that’s how research gets done,’’ Gonzalez said. “If we don’t help each other, we’re never going to learn anything else.” Blackstone wanted students to know that research did not have to be a tedious process — it was all about curiosity. “Research to me used to be [like] … ‘Who wants to do that?’” Blackstone said. “I have found that it is a great way to satisfy your own sense of curiosity about things.” Written by: Morgan Wrigley Where Curiosity Dr. Ginger Blackstone analyzes media coverage over George Floyd’s death. Photo by: Julianne Baker meets research
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