Top Stories Faculty Authors Expertise
AU Newsmakers 7.19-7.26, 2019
Top Stories
With 2020 on the Horizon, Mueller Testimony Leaves Dems With Difficult Choices
Associate Professor of Communication Jane Hall spoke with WJLA about the choices facing Democrats following Robert Mueller's recent congressional testimony. Hall said, “His one-word answers I think left the Democrats questioning him scrambling to get what they hoped out of this, which was a retelling of the Mueller report and the charges to a large television audience.” Capri Cafaro, executive-in-residence in the School of Public Affairs, discussed the hearings with Bloomberg's ‘Sound On' and Jason Mollica, professor of communication, discussed the Mueller hearings with CGTN. (7/25, 7/23, 7/26)
Academic Minute: New Type of Mexican Migrants
Assistant Professor of Sociology Ernesto Castañeda appeared in WAMC's “The Academic Minute” to discuss his research into challenges Mexican migrants face on both sides of the border. Castañeda said, “[Migrants] experience constant stress and fear because of the threats they received in home countries and their undocumented status in the U.S.” This report also ran in Inside Higher Ed. Ibram Kendi, director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center, and Alan Kraut, professor of History, also spoke to The Washington Post about attitudes towards migration among Americans. (7/25, 7/20, 7/22)

Faculty Authors
From 'Pretty Little Liars' to 'The OC,' Television Producers Need to Stop Encouraging Teen Drinking – Here's How They Can
Cristel Russell, associate professor of marketing in the Kogod School of Business, wrote an article published in The Conversation about the importance of discouraging teen drinking in popular culture. Russell writes, “Just as marketers have recognized and embraced that today's teens are naturally savvy about marketing efforts, so should public health campaign developers.” (7/26)
Smokey (the) Bear Is Still Keeping His Watchful Eye on America's Forests After 75 Years on the Job
Wendy Melillo, associate professor of communication, wrote an article for The Conversation about the 75th anniversary of Smokey the Bear. Melillo wrote, “With the war winding down in 1944, the Forest Service wanted the campaign to keep educating Americans about forest fire prevention, minus the scary imagery. After briefly featuring Bambi… the Forest Service landed on a black bear.” (7/19)
A World War II Battle Holds Key Lessons for Modern Warfare
Benjamin Jensen, scholar-in-residence at the School of International Service, co-wrote an article for The Conversation about the Guadalcanal campaign. Jensen and his co-author wrote, “The campaign marked a major turning point in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also revealed important lessons about the nature of warfare itself – ones that are particularly relevant when planning for conflict in the 21st century.” (7/25)

Expertise
With Guns, Cash and Terrorism, Gulf States Vie for Power in Somalia
Assistant Professor of Public Affairs Tricia Bacon spoke to The New York Times about the competition for power in Somalia amongst Gulf states. Bacon suggested that ‘Qatar did not need a deep relationship with the Shabab to hire local extremists for a more limited task, as “a proxy to conduct some attacks and disrupt the Emirates' plans.”'. (7/22)
Backlash Intensifies Over D.C. Plan to End Disabilities Services Contract
Robert Dinerstein, director of the Disability Rights Law Clinic, spoke to The Washington Post about the D.C. government's decision to end a 14-year old contract with Georgetown University that provided medical and social services to people with disabilities. Dinerstein said, “[The D.C. Government is] kind of saying, ‘Trust us, we know what we're doing.' And I think what came out of the hearing is that there are a lot of people that have concerns about that.” (7/25)
Chairman of House Intelligence Panel Says He First Learned of Russian Attacks on Senate Campaigns at a Security Forum
Tweets from Aki Peritz, adjunct instructor in the School of International Service, were cited in a Washington Post article about news that the House Intelligence Committee Chairman didn't know about Russian attempts at hacking Senate campaigns until the issue came up at a public conference. Peritz tweeted, “Did the FBI know? Did DHS's [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] know? Did [the Office of the Director of National Intelligence]? If not, why not? If so, how was this intel disseminated to the rest of the community.” (7/22)
MTV's 'Are You the One?' and the Future of Queer Representation in Reality TV
Assistant Professor of Communication Sherri Williams appeared on WAMU's “1A” to discuss the latest season of MTV's “Are You the One” and its implication for queer representation in the media. Williams said, “So when I think of where we see queer people of color the most, that is on reality television… there is value in those representations.” (7/22)
Kamala Harris Isn't 'Electable'? It Could Be Code for Not Being a White Man
Betsy Fischer-Martin, executive director of the Women & Politics Institute, spoke to The San Francisco Chronicle about what it means to be “electable”. Fischer Martin said, “The conventional wisdom is that electability is the most important thing, but it's only one factor of what people are thinking about. And for female candidates, that is a good thing.” (7/19)
Boris Johnson's Brexit Options: No Deal, Another Extension, or a New Election?
Garret Martin, professorial lecturer in the School of International Service, spoke to Sinclair Broadcasting Group about the Brexit options available to Boris Johnson, the newly elected British Prime Minister. Martin said, “The challenges that brought down Theresa May are still there.” The interview aired on 14 Sinclair-affiliated channels, including WJLA. Martin also spoke to CGTN about Boris Johnson's appointment. (7/23)
Facebook's $5 Billion FTC Fine is Good News for the Company
Washington College of Law Professor Jennifer Daskal spoke to Yahoo Finance about Facebook's $5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission. Daskal said, “It's worth keeping in mind that this is the biggest fine ever that's been imposed, and it's part and parcel of a set of ongoing investigations and inquiries in both the U.S. and the E.U. about policies and practices of Facebook and other big tech companies with respect to privacy and potential anti-competitive behavior as well.” (7/24)



''Online, consumer'' news refers to online news outlets and blogs such as Huffington Post, NY Times
"Online, consumer" news refers to online news outlets and blogs such as Huffington Post, NY Times
Both charts are based on the week's Newsmakers highlights only, not total AU Mentions for the week
Both charts are based on the week's Newsmakers highlights only, not total AU Mentions for the week

Prepared by University Communications

American University's faculty, staff, students and programs appear in regional, national and international print, online and broadcast media regularly. Each week, AU Newsmakers provides highlights of AU in the news. For prior weeks, go to: http://www.american.edu/media/inthemedia.cfm

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