A chill fell across the University of Mississippi’s campus when Chancellor Glenn Boyce fired Lauren Stokes for sharing a post that called Charlie Kirk a racist. It left faculty afraid to speak their minds, several testified in federal court, where Stokes is challenging her termination.
Kristie Swain
Kristie Swain has spent her career decoding how stories shape what people believe and what they fear. As an associate professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, she explores how news and social media frame risk during public crises, including bioterrorism, COVID-19 misinformation, climate change, food insecurity, environmental justice, and transgender healthcare. Swain served as a staff writer for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living, Oxford Eagle, and the Tuscaloosa News. She also helped launch Sun.ONE, the world's first university-based online newspaper.