The TRC recognizes Chloe Junkerman for successfully defending her master’s thesis titled, “News Media Coverage and Framing of Human Trafficking in the United States” on July 19, 2024.
Findings from Junkerman’s thesis indicate that only around 60% of federal human trafficking cases received any coverage by national and regional media outlets, with cases involving extreme cases of coerced sex and forced labor considered the most newsworthy. In addition, Junkerman found that the most media-sensationalized cases emphasized the dangerousness of traffickers rather than the plights of trafficking survivors.
Junkerman graduated with a MA in Sociology (Criminology Concentration) and holds a BA in Criminology and Sociology from the University of Arkansas.
From 2022 – 2024, she served as Terrorism Research Center (TRC) Project Manager for the Human Trafficking Study (HTS), a TRC-housed database that includes federal trafficking-related cases and basic legal outcome information.
Junkerman is now employed by the Rogers (AR) Fire Department as an Emergency Response/Fire Analyst.
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