University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The College of Professional Studies is excited to announce the publication of a new piece of research by one of our Mass Communications faculty.

Dr. Kwasi Boateng’s article, Radio in Accra: Communicating among Linguistically and Ethnically Diverse Audiences has been published in Intercultural Communication Studies, the journal of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS).

Dr. Boateng’s article examines a paradigm shift in local radio programming in Accra, Ghana. Private radio in Accra has been evolving, and stations have been using the Akan language to reach a wider population that includes Akans and non-Akans.

Dr Boateng argues that what has been happening in Accra has set a precedent, and local language use is spreading on private radio.  Consequently, a wide-reaching communication network has been created that has had a transformative, democratizing effect on Ghanaian communities, and has used the sharing of information to help empower local people.

Dr Boateng’s article appears in Vol. XXII, Issue no. 1 (2009) of Intercultural Communication Studies.

Mass Communication sophomore Kirsten Johnston is the sole recipient of an Arkansas Public Relations Society of America grant to attend the professional organization’s international conference next month in San Diego.

The annual conference attracts more than 2,000 public relations professionals from across the globe and another 1,000 students and advisors. The Arkansas chapter guides student PRSSA chapters (Public Relations Student Society of America) on five different campuses — UCA, ASU, Hardin, Arkansas Tech University and UALR and students from those universities compete annually for grants traditionally awarded to two students.

“The Arkansas PRSA Chapter is thrilled to award UALR student Kirsten Johnston with a scholarship to the upcoming International Conference in San Diego,” said Natalie Ghidotti, APR, president of the chapter. “In her essay, Kirsten outlined how she will use what she learns at the conference to help continue to grow the UALR PRSSA chapter after its recent ‘rebirth.’ We felt she was the clear choice to win the scholarship based on her obvious passion for public relations and dedication to helping her fellow PRSSA members continue to stay involved in the profession. We look forward to Kirsten’s continued leadership next year and encourage other students to become involved with their PRSSA chapters!”

Johnston is pursuing the Strategic Communications emphasis of the Mass Communications major and is the president-elect of the UALR PRSSA chapter.