Social Justice in College Media: How Campus Magazines Report, Reflect, and Respond to Police Killing of Breonna Taylor

Carol Terracina-Hartman

doi:10.60543/ijms.v2i1.9232

Carol Terracina-Hartman Murray State University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5421-5977

DOI: https://doi.org/10.60543/ijms.v2i1.9232

Résumé

Campus magazines by nature avoid event and breaking-news content, digging deeper to present social and cultural impacts. However, the killing of a Black woman in her own home–awakened by a flawed no-knock warrant–changed “culture” and “lifestyle” for student editors. Based upon a prior study, this study aimed to examine how student media–as a Community of Practice–would respond, report, and reflect on the social impacts of the police killing of Breonna Taylor. Editions from three nationwide contests were sampled 2019–2022, focusing on three variables: Cover, Table of Contents, and Editor’s Note. Guided by Problematic Integration Theory and informed by semiotic analysis, the authors identified 15 themes from the dataset.
Comparative analyses show demonstrations, responses, and profiles dominate coverage post-shutdown. Results confirm that “identity” persists in a Community of Practice even when “practice” demands operational scrutiny.

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Biographie de l'auteur

Carol Terracina-Hartman, Murray State University

Carol Terracina-Hartman, Ph.D., teaches Writing for Publication, Feature Writing, Big Data Journalism, and advises student media in the U.S. She has written for an array of magazines, including Running Times, Pulse!, Comstock’s Business, Sierra Heritage, Northwest Journal, Christian Music Planet and more. She also served as copyeditor on Programs & People and other university-sponsored publications. Her research on Mother Jones earned a national award and paved the way to several peer-reviewed studies of collegiate magazines pre- and post-COVID. She is Immediate Past Head of AEJMC Magazine Media division, having led the division to renew connection with working journalists. In 2024, the division honored High Country News with Professional Freedom & Responsibility award. She earned a Ph.D. at Michigan State University in Media Studies where she worked as Research Assistant in the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.