Erin Cooper '21's article, "Media microaggressions? A content analysis of mainstream newspaper descriptions of non-white male victims of law enforcement violence, 2014-15 vs. 2019-20," has been accepted for publication by The Whitman Journal of Psychology (WJP), a Maryland-based, peer-reviewed academic journal for the nation's best secondary behavioral research (Winter 2021-22). The editors decided to "select one outstanding paper from among the 2020-21 submissions before leaving on summer hiatus.
Erin employed sophisticated, computer-based content analysis. A brief summary of "Media Microaggressions" is as follows: "Microaggressive language towards black, male victims of police violence in news articles significantly decreased between 2014 and 2020 (p<.05) in fourteen mainstream American newspapers. Content-analysis software (MAXQDA) scanned for frequency/context of specific trigger words. Have racial justice movements changed the way journalists write about police-involved incidents or have newsroom editors 'scrubbed' microaggressive language post-submission?"
Erin's publication is Sacred Heart Academy's fifth such accomplishment in 24 months - a feat never before accomplished, according to the editor-in-chief of the Whitman Journal of Psychology. Fiona Marren '20 and Sofia Di Scipio '20 were published in the WJP in Fall 2020. Carmela Musso's and Sophia Fitzpatrick's essays will appear in the Fall 2021 edition of the WJP.