Qualifications:

B.A., John Carroll University (Communication)
M.A., The Ohio State University (Journalism)
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison (Mass Communications)

Quick Introduction:

Public opinion and communication, survey research methods and analysis, political communication, and terrorism.

Description:

Much of my research involves public opinion, political communication and research methods. I am currently at work on the topic of survey transparency, looking at communication journals for their compliance with basic measures disclosure measures for population survey data. All survey data look like. The only way to judge the quality of survey data is to understand exactly how it was collected and to have accurate information about the nature of the sampling, and some details about the procedures used in data analysis.

I am the chair of the Journalism Program Committee for the School of Communication. This committee oversees the journalism B.A.-Journalism degree program, and handles oversight of The Lantern Media Group. This includes the The Lantern,  the school’s 141-year-old student newspaper. It also includes Lantern TV, thelantern.com website and various channels on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Tik-Tok. The Lantern is a 24/7 multimedia news organization staffed by students that is an integral part of our journalism program. Most journalism courses feed content into The Lantern. Of course, we also welcome freelance writers, volunteers, senior reporters, photographers, videographers, designers, and others who want to join us.

My committee sets policies for all the assets of the Lantern Media Group and hires all of the 23 student editors and video producers. Today’s Lantern is far more than what most people think of as a campus newspaper. News is printed on paper one day a week, but the Lantern follows a “digital first” publishing strategy and operates a large and complicated web site that has a lot of room for stories that do not fit in the printed version. The web site also accommodates photo essays, podcasts and video. Lantern TV publishes its work on a YouTube channel. Students promote their stories on social media. The Lantern is a much-beloved organization to Ohio State journalism alumni and the organization has a storied history of excellence and awards. The most lasting contribution is, of course, the generations of journalists it has produced who have been remarkably successful in the world of journalism and related areas. This includes numerous winners of the Pulitzer Prize. Over the decades, Lantern alumni have held various positions at major news organizations.

We have created a colloquium for journalism undergraduate students that we call NICS – News Innovation Through Communication Science. The key insight here is that we know through our research a great deal about the problems (and opportunities) of journalism. The NICS colloquia are designed to hear an expert scholar briefly introduce a topic – disinformation, motivated reasoning, gatekeeping, and then engage students in talking about the problem and considering how improvements in professional practice might be made. We aspire to do one or two of these informal presentations each semester.