Meredith Clark

American scholar

Meredith D. Clark
Meredith Clark by Kumolu Studios
Clark in 2018
Born
St. Louis, Missouri, US
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
ThesisTo Tweet Our Own Cause: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Online Phenomenon "Black Twitter" (2014)
Academic work
DisciplineMedia studies, Mass communication
InstitutionsUniversity of Virginia
Main interestsBlack Twitter, Cancel culture, Systemic racism in the US news media

Meredith D. Clark is an American journalist and scholar. As of 2021 she is an associate professor at Northeastern University. She was previously an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia. Her research interests include Black Twitter, cancel culture, and systemic racism in US news media. She was named by The Root to their 2015 list of 100 most influential Black Americans after her Ph.D. dissertation, To Tweet Our Own Cause: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Online Phenomenon "Black Twitter", won a Top Dissertation award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

According to The Root, the dissertation was one of the first analyses of Black Twitter by an academic researcher. NPR called her "the go-to person about Black Twitter".[1]

Early life and education

Clark was born to John T. Clark and Dr. Bonnie Mitchell-Clark and raised in Lexington, Kentucky.[2][3]

Clark attended Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 2002 and a master's degree in journalism in 2006.[2] She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a Ph.D. in mass communication in 2014.[2] Clark's dissertation for her Ph.D. was titled To Tweet Our Own Cause: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Online Phenomenon "Black Twitter".[4] It won a Top Dissertation award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.[4]

Career

Prior to earning her Ph.D., Clark worked as a journalist for the Capital Outlook, the Tallahassee Democrat, the Austin American-Statesman, and the News & Observer.[2] She wrote a column on diversity at the Poynter Institute's website and was a contributor to USA Today.[2]

According to The Root, Clark's Ph.D. dissertation was one of the first analyses of Black Twitter by an academic researcher.[4] NPR called her "the go-to person about Black Twitter".[1]

After earning her Ph.D., Clark became an assistant professor at the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas.[4][5] She is an assistant professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia.[2][4] She is a faculty fellow with the Data & Society Research Institute, an advisory board member for the Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies at New York University, an advisory board member for Project Information Literacy at Harvard University, and a faculty affiliate of the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania.[6] She received a grant of $1.2 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to research African-American social media.[7]

As of 2021 she is an associate professor at Northeastern University.[8]

Clark's research interests include Black Twitter, cancel culture, and systemic racism in the US news media.[6][9]

Personal life

Clark is married to Willie A. Green III.[3] The couple live in Charlottesville, Virginia.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Buzz Over 'Black Twitter'". NPR. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "About". Meredith D. Clark, Ph.D. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Department of Media Studies". mediastudies.as.virginia.edu. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The Root 100 – 2015". The Root. January 1, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Ramsey, Donovan X. (April 10, 2015). "The Truth About Black Twitter". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Meredith D. Clark". Data & Society. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Reid, Whitelaw (November 28, 2018). "Black Twitter 101: What Is It? Where Did It Originate? Where Is It Headed?". UVA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Journalist and social media scholar to found research center focused on race, activism, and media impact". Northeastern CAMD. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  9. ^ "Meredith D. Clark, Chautauqua, NY". Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau. Retrieved April 25, 2021.