Danielle K. Brown
1855 Community & Urban Journalism Professorship, Associate Professor | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Danielle K. Brown's interdisciplinary scholarship utilizes the cross-sections of journalism, political science, and sociology.
Media
Publications:
Documents:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Biography
Danielle K. Brown, Ph.D. is the 1855 Community and Urban Journalism Professor and an associate professor at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. Her interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship utilizes the cross-sections of journalism, political science, and sociology. She specializes in media representations and narrative change; reconciliation and reparative solutions; social movements and activism; and identity and political psychology. Dr. Brown has published dozens of articles in top-tier journals, and her work also appears in popular media outlets like the Washington Post, Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review and The Conversation. Dr. Brown is an associate editor for the International Journal of Press/Politics. Much of her research and work has been supported with the more than $1.5 million in external funding she has secured from foundations and non-profit organizations like the James A and John S Knight Foundation, Global Impact, Robert Wood Johnson, and Color of Change. She has received multiple awards and recognitions for her research and service record as an early-career scholar and her pioneering public engagement work. Dr. Brown is an associate editor for the International Journal of Press/Politics, and serves on the editorial board for Journalism Practice. She previously served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota and Indiana University. Prior to joining the academy, she was a photojournalist, writer, and later a non-profit public relations professional.
Industry Expertise (3)
Research
Education/Learning
Media - Broadcast
Areas of Expertise (3)
Sociology
Journalism
Political Science
Accomplishments (3)
Public Engagement Award, Journalism Studies Division (professional)
2022 International Communication Association
Cox Innovation Award (professional)
2021 Hubbard School, University of Minnesota
Association for Education on Journalism and Mass Communication Top Dissertation Award (professional)
2017
Education (3)
University of Texas: Ph.D., Journalism 2017
Baylor University: M.A., Journalism, Public Relations and New Media 2013
Baylor University: B.A., Journalism & Public Relations 2008
Affiliations (3)
- International Communication Association
- Association for Education for Journalism and Mass Communication
- National Association of Black Journalists
Links (5)
News (5)
Who is Danny Bakewell, the Black L.A. power broker named in the Nury Martinez audio?
Los Angeles Times online
2022-10-18
Not everyone agreed. Danielle Brown — a professor of journalism, diversity and equality at the University of Minnesota — said it would be unusual for the publisher of a Black newspaper to be meeting with politicians and directly informing policy.
American journalism’s racial reckoning still has lots of reckoning to do
NiemanLab online
2022-03-08
The most recent push to create these positions stemmed from how the public reacted to Floyd’s murder, said Danielle K. Brown, the John & Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
News organizations are increasing diversity efforts, a Medill survey finds
Poynter online
2022-02-01
The second-ever Medill Media Industry Survey was conducted at the end of 2021 by associate professor Stephanie Edgerly of Medill, and Danielle K. Brown, the Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality at the University of Minnesota. More than 1,500 members of the U.S. news media completed the questionnaire.
Medill Survey Respondents Say Their News Organizations Are Making Diversity Efforts
Local News Lab online
2022-02-01
The second-ever Medill Media Industry Survey was conducted at the end of 2021 by Associate Professor Stephanie Edgerly of Medill, and Danielle K. Brown, the Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality at the University of Minnesota. More than 1,500 members of the U.S. news media completed the questionnaire.
Journalists Feeling Pressure from Pandemic
Local News Lab online
2022-02-01
The second-ever Medill Media Industry Survey was conducted from Nov. 30 through Dec. 31 by Associate Professor Stephanie Edgerly of Medill, and Danielle K. Brown, the Cowles Professor of Journalism Diversity & Equality at the University of Minnesota. More than 1,500 members of the U.S. news media completed the questionnaire.
Research Grants (3)
Misinformation & Black Communities
Knight Foundation, The Miami Fund $135,700
2022
White supremacy and shows about policing
Color of Change $8742
2022
Vax that thing up: Social contagions and social media’s potential to help with vaccine hesitancy
Global Impact’s Vaccine Confidence Fund $248,776
2021
Journal Articles (5)
A New Protest Paradigm: Toward a Critical Approach to Protest News Analyses
The International Journal of Press/Politics2023 Decades after the development of the “protest paradigm,” scholarship continues to question the applicability of the paradigm under different circumstances, rather than pushing forward a more holistic theory that more adequately addresses the roles of producers, consumers, and media products. In this introduction to the special issue on news and protest, we argue that the relevance and any potential future advances of the protest paradigm depend on the (re)incorporation of its critical foundations, making explicit analyses of power hierarchies, and offering solutions for better journalistic coverage of protests.
Facing the Competition: Gender Differences in Facial Emotion and Prominence in Visual News Coverage of Democratic Presidential Primary Candidates
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly2022 This study considered the impact of gender on visual coverage of the top 12 candidates in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary. Using Microsoft Azure’s Face API, we analyzed 9,529 still images from 43 mainstream news sources for facial emotion (happiness, anger, neutrality) and prominence (close-up, medium, long shots).
No Reckoning for the Right: How Political Ideology, Protest Tolerance and News Consumption Affect Support Black Lives Matter Protests
Political Communication2022 After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a flood of protest activity against racial injustice ensued around the world, and a significant uptick in support for Black Lives Matter followed. This study investigated the narratives produced in news coverage of Black Lives Matter protests and how media consumption and individual predispositions help us understand public support for the movement.
“It’s Just Not the Whole Story”: Black Perspectives of Protest Portrayals
Howard Journal of Communications2022 News organizations have a long history of covering civil rights protests in delegitimizing ways, and scholars have found that this coverage negatively affects public opinion. However, most media effects work has minimized the perspectives of Black people, and little is known about how racial identity might affect how protest coverage is perceived.
Black Lives Matter Coverage: How Protest News Frames and Attitudinal Change Affect Social Media Engagement
Digital Journalism2022 This article investigates the relationship between digital news coverage of protests and the audience’s willingness to engage with a story about Black Lives Matter on social media. Using a 3x2 experiment, we evaluate if news frames from the protest paradigm literature (riot, confrontation, and legitimizing) and the presence of an accompanying visual would make people more likely to read, like, share and comment on a news story about a street demonstration on social media.
