Dunja Antunovic, PhD, assistant professor of sport sociology in the School of Kinesiology and Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport affiliated scholar, participated at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) annual conference earlier in August in Detroit, Michigan.

Antunovic presented a research paper entitled “‘To build a more just society’: WNBA teams’ uses of digital platforms for advocacy and community relations.” The paper examined how WNBA teams communicate about social issues on their official social media pages. The study found that WNBA teams did not just post statements about social issues during the 2021 season, but often connected their messaging to community initiatives, supported by sponsors.

This project is a collaboration with a team of Tucker Center scholars, including director Nicole M. LaVoi, PhD, and external affiliated scholars Ann Pegoraro, PhD, Ceyda Mumcu, PhD, Katie Lebel, PhD, and Nancy Lough, PhD. School of Kinesiology undergraduate student Kim Soltis is also a co-author on the study. This project is supported by Penn State’s Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication grant in Corporate Social Advocacy.