Lynne Perri Journalist in Residence Journalism
- Additional Positions at AU
- Senior Professorial Lecturer
- Degrees
- Bachelor of Arts, University of South Carolina; Master's degree, Medill School of Journalism
- Bio
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Lynne Perri is a journalist-in-residence and senior professorial lecturer at American University. She was a senior editor and then managing editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop, theÌý editorially independent, nonprofit newsroom based at SOC, from 2009 through May of 2024.
She teaches reporting, visual journalism, the history of investigative journalism, and journalism ethics. She co-created courses to cover national and state elections, and since 2008, she and several faculty colleagues haveÌý taken students to New Hampshire to cover the nation's first presidential primary every four years and contribute to major news outlets.
She was awarded Outstanding Service to the University Community for 2020 and also received the School of Communication's 2020 Award for Inclusive Excellence.
Additional service includes co-creating the partnership between AU and Politico in 2013, which led to the Politico Journalism Institute, in which a diverse cohort of students comes to Washington in the summer for an intensive workshop on how to cover politics and public policy. She co-led the program for 10 years.
Before joining American University, she worked as a reporter and editor at several newspapers, including the Tallahassee Democrat and The Tampa Tribune. She later immersed herself in visual journalism as a deputy managing editor for Graphics and Photography at USA TODAY, where she also wrote features and book reviews.Ìý
She has been an adjunct professor at Syracuse, Northwestern, the University of Maryland and the University of South Florida, and a visiting lecturer at the University of Iowa, Ohio University and the University of Nebraska. She has led workshops for The Washington Post, the Knight Center for International Journalists, the American Press Institute and the Society for News Design.
- See Also
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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COMM-409 Journalism Ethics
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COMM-462 Journalism Capstone
Spring 2025
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COMM-417 Fundamentals of News Design
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COMM-462 Journalism Capstone
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Research Interests
How the visual display of news in print, online and on TV affects understanding and retention.
Grants and Sponsored Research
- Citizen media: Professors Perri and former AU Professor Angie Chuang received a 2008 grant from J-Lab, funded by the Knight Foundation, to develop a on how to interview effectively.
- TV: Professors Perri and Dotty Lynch created a partnership between Link TV and the School of Communication to find new sources of public opinion data and innovative ways to illustrate it. They focused on global attitudes toward the , and . The segmentsÌý aired in spring 2007. The project was funded by the Center for Social Media and the Ford Foundation.
Professional Services
Visual Journalism Seminars
- Kaiser Media Fellows, 2008
- The Washington PostÌýand Knight International Fellows, 2007
Ìý
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
- Judge for the college entries to the RFK annual journalism awards.
- Annual judge for the Indiana Press Association Journalist of the Year.
Selected Publications
Mothers and Children, National Geographic Society, March 2009, a photo book for which Professor Perri wrote the introduction.
, Knopf, 1997, a publication of USA TODAY; Professor Perri was an editor on the project.
Quoted in Mediashift.