Doctoral candidate Jenn Burleson Mackay fell in love with journalism when she was in second grade. The Western North Carolina native spent several years working in television news and daily newspapers before she found herself sitting in an Alabama classroom crunching numbers and debating journalistic ethics. She hopes that her Ph.D in Mass Communication will help her to become an outstanding journalism professor and researcher. She has co-edited a book that explores bias in the media and has had articles accepted for publication in several referred journals including Journal of Mass Media Ethics and Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.
Her primary research interest is journalistic ethics. She became concerned about the varying degrees of professional ethics when she was working in television news. That concern followed her throughout her career and eventually became the focus of her thesis and dissertation.
The University of Alabama, part of The University of Alabama System, is the state’s flagship university. UA shapes a better world through its teaching, research and service. With a global reputation for excellence, UA provides an inclusive, forward-thinking environment and nearly 200 degree programs on a beautiful, student-centered campus. A leader in cutting-edge research, UA advances discovery, creative inquiry and knowledge through more than 30 research centers. As the state’s largest higher education institution, UA drives economic growth in Alabama and beyond.