Publications

• Sparks, J., LoMonte, F., & Rubin, A. (2023). How Covid-19 has affected college newspapers: A mixed-methods study. Newspaper Research Journal. 10.1177/07395329231170195
   

• Sparks, J. & Hmielowski, J.D. (2023). At the Extremes: Assessing Readability, Grade Level, Sentiment, and Tone in US Media Outlets. Journalism Studies, 24(1), 24-44. 10.1080/1461670X.2022.2142646
   

• Smith, M. and Sparks, J. (2023). The Place Matters: A Case Study of How Short-Term Study Abroad Adds Measurable Change for Assessments in Pre-Existing Courses. In A.P. Stevenson & K. Abraham (Eds.), The Half Yet Told: Study Abroad and HBCUs (Chapter 8). The Forum for Education Abroad.

• Trammel, J., Smith, M., Omunga, P., & Sparks, J. (2021). Understanding by Design (UbD) Framework to Explore Teaching and Learning Practices at an HBCU: An Interdisciplinary Approach. In J. Galle (Ed.), Campus Conversations: Student Success Pedagogies in Practice (Chapter 6). Rowman & Littlefield.

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Presentations​

• Mitson, R. & Sparks, J. (2023, November). What Female Leaders Read: A Thematic Analysis and Feminist Consideration of Women’s Leadership Articles in Harvard Business Review [paper session]. National Communication Association 109th Annual Convention, National Harbor, Maryland.
   

• Sparks, J., Anderson, J., & Alarcon, A. (2023, August 7). Sounding the Alarm: Legal Implications of Evolving College Media Independence [paper session]. 106th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C.
   

• Sparks, J., Louis, J.D., Mitson, R., & Shin, J. (2023, May 27). Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Linking Behaviors of Untrustworthy News Websites [paper session]. 73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Canada.
   

• Bailey, R., Hmielowski, J., Hutchens, M., Ichiplani, P., & Sparks, J. (2023, May 27). Using Primary Motivational Aspects of GMO Foods to Shift Attitudes [paper session]. 73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Toronto, Canada.
   

• Shao, C., Nah, S., Heffron, E., & Sparks, J. (2023, April 15). Conceptualizing Trust: Causes, Components, and Consequences [paper session]. Broadcast Education Association, Las Vegas, Nevada.
  **Top Research Presentations, Open 2nd Place Paper
   

• Grover, R., Sparks, J., Nguyen, M., & Johnson, B. (2022, August 2). How a Little Goes a Long Way: Celebrating the Winning Research of the Inaugural Michael Hoefges Graduate Student Research Fund [panelist]. 105th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Detroit, Michigan.
   

• Sparks, J. (2022, August 3). News Audience Trust in Open Records: How Political Trust Moderates News Audience Perceptions of Credibility in Open Records used in Political Journalism [paper session]. 105th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Detroit, Michigan.
   

• Sparks, J. & Waddell, T.F. (2022, August 5). Is Readability a Heuristic? Assessing Readability Effects on Credibility Judgments in News [paper session]. 105th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Detroit, Michigan.
  **Top Paper, First Place, Newspaper and Online News Division
   

• Sparks, J. (2022) Man and Machine: Do Facebook Users Believe False Information Warnings More When They’re Attributed to Algorithms than Fact-Checkers? [Paper session]. 72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Paris, France.
   

• Sparks, J., Hmielowski, J.D. (2022) At the Extremes: Assessing Readability, Grade Level, Sentiment, and Tone in US Media Outlets [Poster session]. 72nd Annual International Communication Association Conference, Paris, France.
   

• Sparks, J., LoMonte, F., & Rubin, A. (2022) How COVID-19 has affected college newspapers: A mixed-methods study [Paper session]. AEJMC Midwinter Conference, Norman, Oklahoma.
   

• LoMonte, F., Sparks, J., & Rubin, A. (2021) Surveying the College Media Financial Landscape [Conference session]. Fall National College Media Convention, virtual, United States.
   

• Waddell, T.F., Sparks, J., & Moss, C. (2021). Measuring Sexist Stereotypes about Female Reporters: Scale Development and Validity [Paper presentation]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, virtual, United States.
   

• Trammel, J., Smith, M., Sparks, J., & Omunga, P. (2020). Understanding by Design (UbD) Framework to Explore Teaching and Learning Practices at an HBCU: An Interdisciplinary Approach [Conference session]. SoTL Commons Conference, Savannah, GA, United States. 
   

• Sparks, J. and Birzer, D. (2019). Twitter for Action: An Analysis of Twitter Use for Protest at a Southeast HBCU [Conference session]. Georgia Communication Association, Morrow, GA, United States.

• Smith, M. and Sparks, J. (2019). The Place Matters: How to encourage cultural interactions through study abroad [Conference session]. Georgia Association of International Educators, Savannah, GA, United States.

• Gaede, F., Jorgensen, J., Rosener, A., Schultz, T., Sparks, J. and Starkel, A. (2017). Using Storytelling to Share Research in a Time of Mistrust [Conference session]. Triangle Scholarly Communications Institute, Chapel Hill, NC, United States. 

• Sparks, J. (2015). Troll-Slaying: An analysis of the way two women handled comments and threats from people online [Paper presentation]. Biennial Women and Gender Studies Symposium, Augusta, GA, United States.

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• Kerman, J., Trent, M., Carlson, N. (2010). The Mommy Factor: A survey of mothers employed in television newsrooms [Paper presentation]. Broadcast Education Association Conference, Las Vegas, NV, United States.

  • ​First Place, Debut Category, Gender Issues Division
     

• Kerman, J. (2010). The Alhurs. Multicultural Poster Session, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States.

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Creative Work

Kerman, J. (Director and Producer). (2011). Alhur: The Free Ones [Documentary; DVD]. Department of Telecommunications, Ball State University. https://youtu.be/Qacn16t5leU  
 

Fellowship

Back to the Newsroom Fellowship

Wall Street Journal

Sponsored by the International Center for Journalists

May – August 2014

• Worked in the Wall Street Journal newsroom for 10 weeks to study the processes used to disseminate data-based information to news audience.

• Consulted with the Wall Street Journal to help increase African-American participation in internship programs.

• Created a course in partnership with the Wall Street Journal to better prepare Savannah State students for business reporting in Spring 2015.

• Presented to Journalism and Mass Communications faculty in Fall 2014 about the key needs of the industry and how the department could better prepare students for those needs.