Tia C. M. Tyree, PhD
Biography:
Dr. Tia C. M. Tyree the Interim Chair and Professor at Howard University within the Department of Journalism. She is currently the Public Relations Sequence Coordinator for Department of Journalism, and she teaches several graduate and undergraduate courses, including Introduction to Public Relations; PR Writing II; PR Writing I; SR: Friends, Follower and Social Media; SR: Event Planning; CapComm Lab and Issues in Mass Communication Theory and Research. As an instructor, she primarily teaches students the history, theory, practices and issues of contemporary public relations; informs students about corporate communications, media and community relations, action and communication strategies; and teaches students how to create key public relations information products, including media advisories, press releases, promotional items, fact sheets and media packets. Her research interests include African American and female representations in the mass media, hip hop, rap, reality television, film and social media.
She has published articles in several journals, including Women and Language; Howard Journal of Communications; Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism and Journal of Black Studies. She is co-editor of HBCU Experience – The Book and Social Media: Pedagogy and Practice. She is also the author of The Interesting and Incredibly Long History of American Public Relations.
Prior to joining the academy, she served as the Public Relations Manager for the DC Housing Finance Agency. Her duties included advising the executive director on various departmental and agency functions, programs, policies and external business opportunities; developing advertising, media, marketing, communications and public outreach campaigns; managing all media-related functions; media training; customer relations; and writing and designing bi-monthly print and electronic newsletters, annual reports and other public outreach products. She served also served as the Public Information Officer for the DC Department of Housing and Community Development. At the department, she acted as the agency’s spokesperson, handled media relations, created public outreach strategies and departmental policies, developed information products, handled crisis communications, acted as a key community liaison; wrote speeches for the city’s mayor and the department’s executive director and promoted the organization using various channels. As a Public Relations Consultant for Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., she developed local and national public outreach strategies for the U.S. Army’s Chemical Demilitarization Program. During her career, she also served as a Junior Associate with the LY Group, Inc. and Public Relations Manager for Princess Ashley, Inc., where she developed media strategies and helped market and promote R&B singer Toni Braxton and the R&B group called The Braxtons.
Before beginning her public relations career, she honed her writing skills by working as a beat reporter for The Sun in Baltimore, Maryland; Florida Today in Melbourne, Florida; and States News Service in Washington, DC. Her experience as a reporter has given her an edge in the public relations field, allowing her to recognize news trends, properly relate and communicate with media representatives and create mock interviews and potential media questions for her employees.
Dr. Tyree earned a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; Masters of Arts in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland and PhD in Mass Communications and Media Studies from Howard University.
Research Interest
- Meta Analysis of Katrina + Blacks in Media
- Social Media
