Frank Waddell

As Netflix welcomes NBC’s beloved series “This Is Us” to its platform, the spotlight shines on Randall, the adopted Black son of a white couple that is at the heart of the show. For many viewers, encountering Randall’s story may be their only glimpse into the complexities and realities of…

Frank Waddell, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism associate professor, will receive a $1,000 research grant from the college honor society Kappa Tau Alpha to investigate audience’s changing expectations for news written by artificial intelligence (AI). News-writing algorithms have witnessed a surge in their application for automating…

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate—that was the question for many families early in the pandemic. With the COVID vaccine highly politicized and paired with preexisting vaccine hesitancy, researchers sought to understand the effect that family communication had on someone’s willingness to talk about the vaccine with family. After all,…

A new study has found that considering family conversation patterns in the fight against vaccine hesitancy is critical. The findings by University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) doctoral students Chelsea Moss and Shelby Thomas, and UFCJC Journalism associate professor Frank Waddell,  were featured in “Hesitancy in the…

Define American released a new body of research on immigration and local news – “Reimagining Immigration News: North Carolina’s Case for the Nation” – that gives journalists in every state a road map for inclusive coverage of immigrant communities and policies. The organization collaborated with the Center for Public Interest…

Define American and the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) collaborated to produce a new body of research on immigration and local news with a focus on North Carolina media consumers. The result, “Reimagining Immigration News: North Carolina’s Case for…

Frank Waddell, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism associate professor, is featured in “Media and News Research The Route for School of Communications Alumnus” published on the Virginia Tech University website on July 7. Waddell is an award-winning media researcher with a passion for communication research. “One…

The topic of refugees continues to be a polarizing one in the United States, often fueled by the media and its representation of displaced individuals. In a new study, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications researchers Frank Waddell, Journalism associate professor, Center for Public Interest Communications Director Ann…

Frank Waddell, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism associate professor, Center for Public Interest Communications Director Ann Christiano, Center Research Director Annie Neimand, and Kelly Chernin are the co-authors of “The Effect of Documentary and Fictional Narratives on Dehumanization of Refugees and Stereotype Reversal” published in the…

Frank Waddell, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism assistant professor, is quoted in “Don’t Read the Comments? For News Sites, it Might be Worth the Effort” published on poynter.com on Nov. 4. The story focuses on online newspaper comments. Some papers have discontinued the option of online…

This story, written by Alisson Clark, originally appeared in UF News on June 10, 2021. Illustration by Allie Schutt. When a fictional female journalist appears on screen, chances are she’s about to sleep with one of her sources. It’s a trope that infuriates actual women in news media — and…

Frank Waddell, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism assistant professor and four CJC doctoral students are the recipients of top paper awards from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). The papers will be presented at the virtual 2021 AEJMC conference from Aug. 4-7.…