'Mediating Hillary Rodham Clinton' is March 26 lecture at UNL

Shawn Parry-Giles, professor of communication at the University of Maryland, will present "Mediating Hillary Rodham Clinton: The News Media as Arbiters of Political Authenticity," at 3 p.m. March 26 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The lecture will be in Room 106 Avery Hall, T Street and former 12th Street (immediately southeast of Memorial Stadium), and is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by UNL's Communication Studies and Political Science departments, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Research Council.

Parry-Giles will explore the U.S. news media's preoccupation with political authenticity and image-making, particularly pertaining to Sen. Clinton. Examining television news broadcasts from Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign through Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid, Parry-Giles will examine how representations of Clinton circulated within mediated political spaces. Although Hillary Clinton is the main subject, Parry-Giles interrogates contemporary television news practices in the United States, examining the evolving narrative and visual framing processes of one political figure over the span of 15 years.

Parry-Gils is a well-known analyst of U.S. political discourse. Her books include, "The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945-1955," "Constructing Clinton: Hyperreality and Presidential Image-Making in Postmodern Politics" (with Trevor Parry-Giles). and "The Prime-Time Presidency: The West Wing and U.S. Nationalism" (with Trevor Parry-Giles). She is co-editor of the forthcoming volume, "The Handbook in Rhetoric and Public Address." She is co-project director of Voice of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project, and a member of the National Communication Association Research Board. Her commentaries have appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Dallas Morning News, and Miami Herald.