Grant Walters

Grant Edward Walters is currently a PhD student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, earning a doctoral degree with a concentration in journalism. He works as a graduate research assistant, aiding student and faculty production efforts in The Media Center. His area of focus examines true-crime media and how the framing, consumption, and discourse around crime differ depending on the identities of the victim, perpetrator, and/or perceived identity.

Walters’s research analyzes specifically how queer and racial identity have been used to spark political discourse, often dehumanizing the victim of a crime in the process. His research also explores how the racial and/or queer identity of the perpetrator of a crime is used to spark heightened political discourse directed at vulnerable populations on various social media platforms. Prior to pursuing his PhD, Walters earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication with a major in journalism and a Master of Science in Communication and Information with a concentration in journalism at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.