Staff Report: Lindsey Blumell visits Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

This was a meaningful and productive visit for me. As both a researcher and a professor. I was able to give a research seminar for the PhD students and staff, consult with PhD students on their dissertations, observe in the classroom, give feedback to undergraduate television students on their final projects, and meet with research staff to discuss future collaborations.

Firstly, program director Ingrid Bachmann Caceres arranged and chaired a research seminar. The seminar was based on one of my publications about objectivity and the Access Hollywood tape scandal. The reference is here:

Blumell, L. E., & Huemmer, J. (2019). Reassessing balance: News coverage of Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood scandal before and during# metoo. Journalism, 1464884918821522

This produced a fruitful discussion with the attendees. Afterwards, I met with several of the PhD students one-on-one to discuss their dissertations. They mostly wanted advice on quantitative methods because that was a focus of my presentation. Specifically, one student wanted to better understand how to protect the anonymity of survey respondents.

Next, I went to Elena Aguirre Alliende’s class on television reporting. I teach TV reporting and producing here at City, and so she asked me to give feedback to the student’s final projects. I found it very interesting that students there tended to make similar mistakes to our students here. The biggest challenge is bringing together the elements of TV in a smooth way. I found that the students there, like my own students, really struggle with balancing audio, having a variety of shots, and editing their materials so the pacing is fast. TV is a quick moving medium and often students stay on one element too long. I was able to give my feedback about these points to the students.

I was also asked by some of the staff to review their work and give feedback. I met with Liliana De Simone Polania because I am on the anti-sexual harassment committee at City and she is starting a similar committee at her university. I was able to advise on what we did at City and make suggestions for her.

I also met with Maria Soledad Puente Vergara who asked me to review one of her manuscripts about humanitarian reporting. That is one of my areas of research, so I was able to make suggestions to her. I also met with Magdalena Saldana Villa (featured below) because she studies gendered hate speech on Twitter. We were able to compare research that we’ve conducted in our respective countries and discuss a future research project together. Another staff member I met with was Claudia Montero Liberona who looks at sexism in advertising images. We discussed a possible research project together. Finally, I met with Julia Martinez. She helps organize the Congress of the Worldwide Association of Women Journalists and Writers. I participated in the congress last year and we talked about me participating in the next congress. Overall, I feel I was able to effectively use my time to meet with staff to give feedback and discuss future collaborations.

Finally, I interviewed two prominent Chilean people for my research and to produce segments in my podcast that I produce with Glenda Cooper. The first person is Monica Rincon, who is a well-known CNN anchor. I was able to interview Rincon about her advocacy in her journalism. I also interviewed someone from La Rebelion del Cuerpo. This is a campaign in Chile, which promotes healthy body images for women.

Overall, I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. I believe I benefited greatly from the experience and was able to help others along the way. I didn’t take many pictures. But below are three images from my experience in Chile.