About Me — Jennifer Brannock Cox

As a print journalist segueing into being a UF doctoral student, I am interested in studying the effect new media convergence has had on newsroom culture. With that in mind, this blog will feature summaries of and thoughts about postings and studies related to journalism and converged media.

First, a bit about who I am: After graduating with dual degrees in journalism and public relations from Appalachian State University in 2002, I immediately began working as a news clerk and freelancer for the Orlando Sentinel. In 2003, I took a job as the lead reporter for The Jupiter (Fla.) Courier, a bi-weekly Florida newspaper. I covered cops, government, education, social services and everything in between. I graduated to the daily parent company, Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, where I worked on the features desk.

I moved to the Naples (Fla.) Daily News in 2005, where I covered cops, government, business and education, including the emerging Ave Maria University and community. While in Naples, I witnessed and, in small part, took part in the development of Naples’ multimedia effort, which included Podcasts and Vodcasts, named Studio 55.

After marrying fellow journalist Jeremy Cox, we moved to Anniston, Ala., where we were participants in the Knight Community Journalism Fellowship Program, housed at The Anniston (Ala.) Star. There, we learned multimedia skills, including the production and editing of newspaper Web videos and audio editing. During the year-long master’s program, Jeremy and I worked as interns in Arlington, Va., for LoudounExtra.com, a community-focused Web site compiled at WashingtonPost.com by newspaper multimedia bigwig Rob Curley and his team. During our internship there, we compiled a multimedia package, including video, a photo gallery and a print story, focused on the reunion of the last segregated class at a Loudoun County high school. We also compiled a multimedia wine guide for Loudoun County, including videos, photo galleries, an interactice map and fact boxes.

After graduating with my master’s degree from the University of Alabama, I decided to continue my education at the University of Florida, where I am pursuing a PhD., specializing in newspaper new media. I teach two lab sections of an introductory writing course for mass communications. Most recently, I wrote a paper regarding the benefactors of newspaper convergence, which I will present at the AEJMC Midwinter Conference in Norman, Ok., in March. My research interests include newsroom attitudes toward new media convergence. I am also enrolled in an electronic publishing course, and I hope to be able to teach new media skills as a professor upon graduation.