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What Even Was the Tea Party? Right-Wing Activism, Media, and Politics Pre-Trump
This talk discusses the rise of the Tea Party in news and discusses its implications for politics and journalism today. Starting with an on-camera rant from a reporter to its first televised State of the Union response, we look at the promotion, significance, and content of the Tea Party, particularly as a pre-cursor of the Trump era.
Dr. Khadijah Costley White is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Previously she worked as a journalist on an Emmy-nominated team at NOW on PBS (formerly NOW with Bill Moyers) and a New York City Teaching Fellow.
She has published work in numerous scholarly journals and books, and presented her research at conferences and universities around the world. White's writing and commentary on topics such as race, social movements, news, and politics has appeared in Vice, National Public Radio, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Root and more. In 2007 the National Association of Black Journalists and United Nations awarded her a reporting fellowship to Senegal. She has also received the University of Pennsylvania Women of Color at Penn Award, an Emerging Diversity Scholar citation from the University of Michigan, and served as a White House intern on the Obama administration’s Broadcast Media team. Additionally, she has consulted for the Ken Burns’ film company “Florentine Films” and served the MacArthur Foundation as an external advisor in journalism and media. She received her PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and is a proud Swarthmore College alum.
As an activist and community organizer, White has helped lead community actions against police violence, mobilized concerned citizens via social media, organized events and programs related to racial justice, convened panels, lectures and teach-ins, and spoken at rallies and other community events. She is also a mom of two, Ella and Akin.