Brittany (Brit) Shaughnessy is a fourth-year doctoral candidate and graduate assistant in the Department of Public Relations in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. Her specialization is in political communication, with her research aiming to answer the following question: How does media consumption affect one’s worldview and support of democratic backsliding in the U.S? More broadly, Brit is interested in why people dislike each other along political lines. Her dissertation research will surround the impact of partisan media on political outcomes and examine the current partisan media ecosystem.

Brit’s teaching specialty lies in strategic communication and public relations. She has taught social media management, an elective course for public relations students. She has also taught public relations campaigns, the capstone course for public relations students prior to graduation, and principles of public relations, a gen ed course that begins the public relations track at the University of Florida. During her time at Virginia Tech, she taught public speaking and virtual public speaking.