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Photograph of Lynne Perri

Lynne Perri Journalist in Residence Journalism

Additional Positions at AU
Previously Managing Editor/IRW
Senior Professorial Lecturer
Degrees
Bachelor of Arts, University of South Carolina; Master's degree, Medill School of Journalism

Bio
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, the  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 have  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. 

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
MediaShift: On the presidential campaign
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

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 training module for citizen journalists 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 Iraq War, climate change and women in leadership. The segments  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 Post and Knight International Fellows, 2007

 

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.

The Weather Book, Knopf, 1997, a publication of USA TODAY; Professor Perri was an editor on the project.

Quoted in "8 Lessons in the Art of Teaching Journalism Online" Mediashift.