COLLEGE PARK — Several faculty and student researchers at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism recently presented and were honored for their work at the 2026 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in New Orleans.
Doctoral students Kemi Busari, Daria Davydova, Yara Mabrouk, Shahariar Khan Nobel and Mohamed Salama, and faculty members Shuning Lu and Ronald Yaros presented research at the conference.
Busari won two awards for “Where is the Gap? Comparative Analysis of Journalism Education Ideals, Industry Expectations, and University Curricula in Nigeria” — the Student Research Paper Award and the Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award for Best Student Paper, both in the Scholastic Journalism Division.
Yaros earned Best Teaching Practices G.I.F.T. Competition Recognition from the Standing Committee on Teaching for “Transforming Journalism Education Through Interdisciplinary Teams, Large Language Models, and Social Media Analyses.”
Here is the full list of research presented by Merrill College doctoral students and faculty at the conference:
Kemi Busari, “Where is the Gap? Comparative Analysis of Journalism Education Ideals, Industry Expectations, and University Curricula in Nigeria.” AEJMC Top Paper Session.
Daria Davydova, “‘Human Shield,’ ‘Not Us,’ or Silence: How Russian State-Controlled Media Obscure Civilian Casualties in Ukraine.” AEJMC International Communication Division.
Shuning Lu and Yan Qu, “Who shared it and why they shared matter: exploring the mechanisms of partisan selective verification behavior.” AEJMC Political Communication Division
Yara Mabrouk, “Women and Misinformation in the Middle East (2000-2025): A Scoping Literature Review.” AEJMC International Communication Division.
Shahariar Khan Nobel, “Fact-Checking as Communication: Organizational Variation and Democratic Public Discourse in Bangladesh.” AEJMC International Communication Division [Scholar to Scholar (Poster) session].
Mohamed Salama, “Measuring What Hallin Left Unmeasured: The Dynamic Spheres Model and the Sphere Placement Index.” AEJMD Communication Theory and Methodology Division.
Ronald Yaros, “Temporal Constraints of Mobile Engagement: Implications for News and Digital Content.” AEJMC Broadcast and Mobile Journalism Division.
Ronald Yaros, “Transforming Journalism Education Through Interdisciplinary Teams, Large Language Models, and Social Media Analyses.” Best Teaching Practices G.I.F.T. Competition Recognition, AEJMC Standing Committee on Teaching.