Meredith Clark

{{Short description|American scholar}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = Meredith D. Clark | honorific_suffix = | image = Meredith Clark Headshot - Kumolu Studios (cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = Meredith Clark by Kumolu Studios | caption = Clark in 2018 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date =  | birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, US | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | nationality = | citizenship = | other_names = | occupation = | period = | known_for = | title = | boards =  | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards =  | website = | education = Florida A&M University<br />University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | thesis_title = To Tweet Our Own Cause: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Online Phenomenon "Black Twitter" | thesis_url = | thesis_year = 2014 | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = | discipline = Media studies, Mass communication | sub_discipline =  | workplaces = University of Virginia | doctoral_students =  | notable_students = | main_interests = Black Twitter, Cancel culture, Systemic racism in the US news media | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }}

'''Meredith D. Clark''' is an American journalist and scholar.

She was named by ''The Root'' to their 2015 list of 100 most influential Black Americans after her Ph.D. dissertation, ''To Tweet Our Own Cause: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Online Phenomenon "Black Twitter"'', won a Top Dissertation award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

According to ''The Root'', the dissertation was one of the first analyses of Black Twitter by an academic researcher. NPR called her "the go-to person about Black Twitter".<ref name="Buzz" />

== Early life and education == Clark was born to John T. Clark and Dr. Bonnie Mitchell-Clark and raised in Lexington, Kentucky.<ref name="About">{{Cite web|title=About|url=https://www.meredithdclark.com/aboutmdc|access-date=April 24, 2021|website=Meredith D. Clark, Ph.D.|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="UVA">{{Cite web|title=Department of Media Studies|url=https://mediastudies.as.virginia.edu/people/profile/mdc6j|access-date=April 24, 2021|website=mediastudies.as.virginia.edu}}</ref>

Clark attended Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 2002 and a master's degree in journalism in 2006.<ref name="About" /> She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a Ph.D. in mass communication in 2014.<ref name="About" /> Clark's dissertation for her Ph.D. was titled ''To Tweet Our Own Cause: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Online Phenomenon "Black Twitter"''.<ref name="TheRoot100">{{Cite web|date=January 1, 2015|title=The Root 100 – 2015|url=https://onehundred.theroot.com/facewall/the-root-100-2015/|access-date=April 24, 2021|website=The Root|language=en-US}}</ref> It won a Top Dissertation award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.<ref name="TheRoot100" />

== Career == Clark's research interests include Black Twitter, cancel culture, and systemic racism in the US news media.<ref name="D&S" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Meredith D. Clark, Chautauqua, NY|url=https://www.tourchautauqua.com/events/meredith-d-clark|access-date=April 25, 2021|website=Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau|language=en}}</ref>

Prior to earning her Ph.D., Clark worked as a journalist for the ''Capital Outlook'', the ''Tallahassee Democrat'', the ''Austin American-Statesman'', and the ''News & Observer''.<ref name="About" /> She wrote a column on diversity at the Poynter Institute's website and was a contributor to ''USA Today''.<ref name="About" />

According to ''The Root'', Clark's Ph.D. dissertation was one of the first analyses of Black Twitter by an academic researcher.<ref name="TheRoot100" /> NPR called her "the go-to person about Black Twitter".<ref name="Buzz">{{Cite web|title=The Buzz Over 'Black Twitter'|url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/274805914?storyId=274805914?storyId=274805914|access-date=April 25, 2021|website=NPR| date=February 10, 2014 |language=en}}</ref>

After earning her Ph.D., Clark became an assistant professor at the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas.<ref name="TheRoot100" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ramsey|first=Donovan X.|date=April 10, 2015|title=The Truth About Black Twitter|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/the-truth-about-black-twitter/390120/|access-date=April 25, 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en}}</ref>

She is an assistant professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia.<ref name="About" /><ref name="TheRoot100" /> She is a faculty fellow with the Data & Society Research Institute, an advisory board member for the Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies at New York University, an advisory board member for Project Information Literacy at Harvard University, and a faculty affiliate of the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="D&S">{{Cite web|title=Meredith D. Clark|url=https://datasociety.net/people/clark-meredith-d/|access-date=April 24, 2021|website=Data & Society|language=en-US}}</ref>

She received a grant of $1.2 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to research African-American social media.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reid|first=Whitelaw|date=November 28, 2018|title=Black Twitter 101: What Is It? Where Did It Originate? Where Is It Headed?|url=https://news.virginia.edu/content/black-twitter-101-what-it-where-did-it-originate-where-it-headed|access-date=April 25, 2021|website=UVA Today|language=en}}</ref>

As of 2021 she is an associate professor at Northeastern University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Journalist and social media scholar to found research center focused on race, activism, and media impact |url=https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/leading-journalist-and-social-media-scholar-meredith-clark-to-found-ground-breaking-research-center-in-the-college-of-arts-media-and-design-at-northeastern-university/ |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=Northeastern CAMD |language=en-US}}</ref>

In July 2024 Clark was hired by alma mater The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media as an associate professor of race and political communication.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hussman.unc.edu/news/unc-hussman-welcomes-4-new-thought-leaders-in-research-and-industry-to-the-faculty | title=UNC Hussman welcomes 4 new thought leaders in research and industry to the faculty }}</ref>

== Personal life == Clark is married to Willie A. Green III<ref name="UVA" /> The couple live in Charlottesville, Virginia.<ref name="UVA" />

== See also ==

* Public sphere

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Meredith}} Category:People from Lexington, Kentucky Category:Florida A&M University alumni Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Category:University of Virginia faculty Category:People from Charlottesville, Virginia Category:University of North Texas faculty Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American women academics Category:Northeastern University faculty