Jaehyun Lee

Jaehyun Lee is a doctoral student in the School of Journalism and a recipient of the University Distinguished Fellowship (UDF) (2026–2031). Her research interests lie at the intersection of political communication and journalism. First, she is interested in power structures in politics and society and the amplification of marginalized voices. Second, she examines how identity shapes news consumption, information processing, and political participation within identity-driven information environments. Third, she explores the role and meaning of journalism norms in an environment increasingly characterized by news distrust and news avoidance. Ultimately, she seeks to understand human values in political communication and their implications for future democracy and contribute to building more inclusive information environments. Prior to joining MSU, she received her B.A. and M.A. in Communication and Media from Ewha Womans University in Korea.

Outside of research, Jaehyun enjoys running and playing the piano and guitar. She began playing guitar relatively recently, while the piano has been a lifelong companion. She also enjoys watching musicals because she loves seeing and feeling how music, choreography, narrative, harmony, and emotion come together in a single performance. She has long loved Defying Gravity from Wicked, but her current favorites are Seasons of Love from Rent, For Good from Wicked, and Always Starting Over from If/Then.