Publication Date
3-1-2022
Abstract
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 2022) – How journalists talk about journalism practice can actually change the way reporters work in a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s according to East Tennessee State University’s Dr. Mildred F. “Mimi” Perreault, an assistant professor in the Department of Media and Communication. She, along with Appalachian State University’s Dr. Gregory Perreault and University of Vienna Ph.D. candidate Phoebe Maares, recently published “Metajournalistic Discourse as a Stabilizer within the Journalistic Field: Journalistic Practice in the Covid-19 Pandemic.”
This research will be the focus of an upcoming episode of “The J Word: A Podcast by Journalism Practice.” Hosted by Lancaster University’s Robert Gutsche Jr., the podcast is home to discussions centered on improving journalism and the digital and social issues that journalists work in and cover. The episode airs March 30.
“We are excited and honored that our timely and important work will appear on this podcast,” said Perreault.
Perreault and the other authors used the Discourses of Journalism database, developed by Hekademeia Research Solutions with funding from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism and from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We are grateful to RJI and Mizzou for their support of our project,” said Perreault. “This study argues that metajournalistic discourse stabilizes the field by affirming the tools western journalists use in order to make sense of a crisis like COVID-19, and by providing a discursive avenue between the ideals of the journalistic field.”
This is the second article that Perreault has written about COVID-19 and journalism. Last year, she published a piece about journalism practices and communication ecology.
Perreault has expertise in local journalism and crisis communication and is the adviser to the department’s student-led regional publication, “Overlooked in Appalachia.”
Document Type
News Article
