Victoria LaPoe has won the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 2018 Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education award.
The award is part of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. That organization is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students and professionals.
She has largely been recognized for her work on gender, race, sexuality, ability and intersectionality within journalism and media marketing.
LaPoe, an assistant professor of journalism at Ohio University, is serving her second year as vice president for the Native American Journalists Association, or NAJA, which empowers Native American journalists through programs and actions.
“I’m Cherokee, and I was involved first in the NAJA as a student, then as a member, and I would help with reviewing awards. I also co-directed the student fellowship,” LaPoe said.
As co-director, she worked with the NAJA education committee and board. Within the past year, six universities have used NAJA for academic credit, including the University of Mississippi, Oklahoma University, the University of Oklahoma, the Institute of American Indian Arts and the University of Nevada, Reno.
NAJA also has had close relationships with other organizations. In the past, NAJA has been involved with the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
“It’s important to have partnerships so that students, mentors and members have the opportunity of seeing what focus are across all spectrums and different organizations,” LaPoe said.
LaPoe looks forward to the release of her fourth book this fall. The book is titled Underserved Communities and Digital Discourse. It will discuss gender-focused studies on representation of female voices within academia, through various case studies.
