Jared Macary

Jared Macary

Jared Macary

Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications

Website

Program Affiliations

Professor Macary has more than a dozen years of professional, multi-national communication and media experience in the areas of gender equity, public health, economic reform, and democracy and governance. Macary has worked directly for four federal agencies: The National Cancer Institute, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Peace Corps as a Girls Education and Empowerment Volunteer, living and working in Togo, West Africa. Macary has consulted with international development organizations in Togo, Chad, and Mongolia, including Chemonics International, Academy for Educational Development (now FHI 360), and Population Services International. As a strategic communicator, Macary developed strategy and tactics to support campaigns promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and testing among youth, federal tobacco regulation among point-of-sale retailers, and programming to reduce morbidity and mortality from cancer. In September 2022, Macary earned his Ph.D. in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Oregon, where he completed his dissertation on the visual communication of wildfire recovery in news photographs. He started at W&L in July 2022.

Education

  • Ph.D., Communication and Media Studies, University of Oregon, 2022
  • M.A., Public Communication, American University, 2010
  • B.F.A., Visual Media Arts, Emerson College, 2001

Research

  • Visual communication
  • Environmental communication
  • Strategic communication
  • Journalism
  • Climate change
  • Wildfire

Teaching

  • JOUR 2207: Public Relations Writing
  • JOUR 2208: Principles of Public Relations

Selected Publications

  • Macary, J.T. (2026). Visualizing Resilience: Understanding the Visual Communication of Resilience Through News Photographs in Elicitation Interviews with Wildland Firefighters. Visual Communication Quarterly, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15551393.2026.2669475

  • Macary, J.T. (2025). Interpreting Visual Meaning: Analysing Photo-Elicitation Interviews Through the Levels of Visual Framing. Visual Studies, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2025.2577240

  • Macary, J.T. & Gillig, T.K. (2022). Protected Area Politics in the American West: Framing Bears Ears National Monument in Local News. Journalism Practice, 18(5), 1081-1099. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2075784

  • Gillig, T.K., Macary, J., & Gross, L.P. (2022). Explain, label, or ignore? Exploring LGBTQ-parent families’ communication about family identity. Communication Studies, 73(3), 314-330.https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2022.2064532