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Rachel Mourao to Give Public Lecture on News Organizations In her speech, which is free and open to the public, Mourao will discuss the role news organizations play, not only in spinning news, but also in legitimizing topics and people.

Rachel-Mourao Rachel Mourao to Give Public Lecture on News OrganizationsRachel Mourao, assistant professor of journalism at Michigan State University and W&L John M. Gunn International Scholar 2008-09.

Rachel Mourao, assistant professor of journalism at Michigan State University and W&L John M. Gunn International Scholar 2008-09, will give a public talk at Washington and Lee University on Jan. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium. In her speech, which is free and open to the public, Mourao will discuss the role news organizations play, not only in spinning news, but also in legitimizing topics and people. The title of her talk is “Us Versus Them: Trump, Bolsonaro, and the News Media.”

She will also visit the Economy of Brazil class taught by Jim Kahn, John F. Hendon Professor of Economics and professor of environmental studies.

Hailing from the Brazilian Amazon, Mourao worked several years as an online reporter and social media manager in journalism and public relations in Brazil. More recently, her work centered on journalists covering political protests and elections in Latin America and the United States.

Maurao’s principal research interests in digital media, political communication, journalism studies and Latin American studies have allowed her to focus on the intersection between journalism, new media and politics. She is particularly interested in the conditions under which technology affects the work of journalists covering political events, such as protests and elections.

In 2017, her dissertation won the Gene Burd Outstanding Dissertation in Journalism Studies Award from the International Communication Association and the best dissertation award from the Mass Communication and Society division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Mourao received her doctorate in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, School of Journalism. She also holds a master of arts from the University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies and a bachelor of arts from the Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Departamento de Comunicação Social.