News Reporting and Writing

Penny Abernathy's research focuses on the implications of the digital revolution for news organizations, the information needs of communities and the emergence of news deserts in the United States. She is the author of “News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?” and "The Strategic Digital Media Entrepreneur."

David Abrahamson's research focuses on literary journalism, long-form journalism, contemporary magazine media ecosystems, and 20th century media history. He is the author of “Magazine-Made America,” co-editor of the "Routledge Handbook of Magazine Research” and general editor of a 26-volume historical series, "Visions of the American Press."

J.A. Adande has more than three decades of experience in sports media, including stops at ESPN, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. He has produced content for online, TV, radio, podcasts and (once upon a time) newspapers. He was the editor for the Year's Best Sports Writing 2022 collection.

Beth Bennett is an award-winning producer and reporter with more than 15 years of experience in broadcast television news and video production. Her experience spans many areas of TV news, including on-air reporting, studio/booth producing and field producing. Since leaving the broadcast industry, she has specialized in producing web and tablet-based videos in addition to independent documentary film work.

Chris Benson's work is situated at the intersection of critical race theory, narrative theory, and media studies. His work focuses on social issues we are confronting in areas of stereotypes, hate speech, symbolic representation (e.g. nooses, swastikas, burning crosses, memorials) and media responsibility in clarifying meaning.

Jill Blackman’s expertise includes the study of digital trends and the evolution of social media in journalism. She focuses on storytelling through innovative digital techniques, including interactive data visualizations, explanatory animations, mapping and various programming languages.

Martin Block is an expert in marketing mix models, marketing research and analytical techniques, sales promotion, advertising management, direct marketing and entertainment marketing. He formerly consulted and conducted research for the cable television industry, and has served as an expert witness in cases involving marketing communication issues.

Chris Cahill's experience and perspective relates to the practical application of marketing analytics in specific corporate situations and industries; such as the implications of implementing a credit-offer selection algorithm by a retail bank.

Clarke L. Caywood has written extensively on corporate, government and NGO responses to the public during crises. His work on political communications and advertising has been quoted at the national, state and local level on broadcast, social and print media. He has spoken extensively in China, Japan and other countries.

Debbie Cenziper's investigative stories focus on social justice reporting, from affordable housing corruption to breakdowns in child welfare systems. Debbie has spent more than 20 years writing for major daily newspapers, including the Miami Herald and The Washington Post.

Mary Coffman has focused on local television news reporting, specifically on political reporting.

Susan Mango Curtis is an educator, designer and consultant. She specializes in visual storytelling and digital publishing. Formerly, she was the assistant managing editor for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, where she was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize gold medal.

Kelly Cutler has more than 20 years of experience with digital marketing and digital media. Her work focuses on the areas of search marketing, social media marketing, programmatic, retargeting and digital analytics and measurement. She works in both theory and practice.

Jack Doppelt is Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emeritus Prof. of Journalism. He’s publisher of Immigrant Connect and the Doppelt Effect, a blog on current events. He helped create Medill’s Social Justice Journalism direction. His expertise is media law and ethics, the reporting of legal and immigrant affairs, & the tenets of social justice journalism.

Craig Duff's long career in video journalism spans broadcast/cable news, long-form television, documentary filmmaking and video on digital platforms (including key roles at the New York Times and TIME). Craig leads the video and broadcast specialization at Medill and has developed a popular course in producing and reporting video for social media.

Stephanie Edgerly's research explores how features of new media alter the way people consume news and impact engagement, particularly among youth and young adults. She is interested in the mixing of news and entertainment content, how individuals and groups create and share news over social media, and how audiences selectively consume media.

Abigail Foerstner is an award-winning reporter covering and teaching health, environment and science journalism. She teaches students how to bridge between an increasingly technological culture and general audiences who rely on science journalism to make critical decisions and understand the wonders around them. She teaches multimedia journalism.

Tim Franklin is leading the Medill Local News Initiative, a research and development project aimed at better understanding the behaviors of digital audiences and finding new approaches to sustainable local news business models.

Jeremy Gilbert's work and research focuses on the content and revenue strategies of existing and emerging media companies. He explores the intersection of technology and media, employing a human-centered design process to examine how new tools and techniques will affect the creation, consumption and distribution of media.

Rich Gordon launched Medill’s graduate program in new media journalism. He has spent most of his career exploring the areas where journalism and technology intersect. He was an early adopter of desktop analytical tools (such as spreadsheets and databases) to analyze data for journalistic purposes.

Ava Greenwell's research centers on the history and experiences of Black women television news leaders and the intersectional nature of Blackness, femaleness and journalism.

Desiree Hanford's expertise centers on business, markets and money. She was an equities reporter for Dow Jones Inc. before joining Medill as a faculty member. Her research focus is on activist shareholders and Gen Z motivations in pursuing journalism in a time of media mistrust.

Mei-Ling Hopgood, author of Lucky Girl and How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm (Algonquin), has won awards for investigative journalism, travel reporting and writing. She is an expert in reporting and multilingual and international storytelling and narrative. She also works on improving diversity and equity in higher education, newsrooms, and coverage.

Brent E. Huffman's research centers around China's economic influence and presence around the world in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He has also done extensive research about threatened cultural heritage and human rights issues around the globe. He can also talk about the U.S. and international documentary production, working in conflict, etc.

Melissa Isaacson is an assistant professor at Medill, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in writing, reporting and sports reporting. A sportswriter for more than 30 years, Isaacson was named among the 20 “Most Influential Women in Chicago sports media” by the Chicago Tribune in 2022. She worked most recently for ESPN in its international division, covering a variety of beats from the Olympic Games to professional tennis. In 19 years at the Tribune, she was the principal beat writer covering the Michael-Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in the 90s and later the Chicago Bears for seven seasons, the first woman in both of those roles.

Craig LaMay is a long-time scholar and practitioner in the field of international assistance, currently at Northwestern’s Qatar campus. His expertise is in international speech law and norms. He is also a sports historian, focusing on Middle East sports, U.S. sport, sports media history, and sport and human rights.

Candy Lee's work on leadership and the effects of voice in technology are showcased in her research. She also does work on customer retention through loyalty, membership, pricing, display, management, attrition consideration, acquisition and growth strategy. Her focus on sport marketing involves diverse arenas from fandom to sponsorship.

Patty Loew's research focuses on how Native Americans use media to communicate their sovereignty, identity and treaty rights through tribal and mainstream media. She also explores Indigenous research methodology.

Kari Lydersen's research focuses, among other things, on the intersection of economics, culture, environment, labor, history and social impacts in regards to extractive industries in Midwestern (specifically water, coal, copper, oil and gas) urban, rural and Native American communities.

Edward Malthouse's research interests center on customer engagement and experiences; digital, social and mobile media; media management; big data; customer relationship management and lifetime value models; recommender systems; and predictive analytics.

Jon Marshall's research focuses on the history of the relationship between presidents and the press, especially investigative journalism. His books include "Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis" and "Watergate's Legacy and the Press: The Investigative Impulse."

Joe Mathewson is a former Supreme Court correspondent for WSJ and a practicing lawyer in Chicago. He stimulates coverage of business, finance and the economy. He is author of “A Quick Guide to Writing Business Stories;” “Law and Ethics for Today's Journalist: A Concise Guide;” and “The Supreme Court and the Press: The Indispensable Conflict.”

Reynaldo Morales’ research centers on the strategic intersection of media and education for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ territorial, political, environmental, cultural and human rights. He also studies the contributions of World Indigenous Peoples’ Traditional Knowledge on the implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Abe Peck has worked in magazines for 40 years as a writer/editor (Rolling Stone, Outside, etc.), an author, a consultant and as Medill's director of B2B communication. The author of “Uncovering the Sixties: the Life and Times of the Underground Press,” he curated Medill's recent series on Media and the 1968 Democratic Convention.

Ceci Rodgers focuses on global economic and financial market forces that impact everyday people. Her expertise lies in broad economic trends (demographics, technology, Fed policy) in the U.S. and Japan, as well as derivatives and other financial innovations. She studies the relationship of the media and financial markets.

Ellen Shearer has conducted research in several areas. In national security, she has focused on journalists' safety, conflict reporting, the military and the media and, more generally, national security issues. In political reporting, she has focused on civic engagement among millennials and among nonvoters.

Elizabeth Shogren has extensive background reporting on environment, energy and climate change. She probed the climate costs of cryptocurrency and natural gas. She covered the Clinton White House, Congress and many federal agencies and was a foreign correspondent in Russia. Her investigations exposed government censorship of science.

Peter Slevin writes about politics and other topics for The New Yorker. He traveled the country and the world for The Washington Post and The Miami Herald and, at Medill, his biography of Michelle Obama was a finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award.

Michael Spikes' research is centered on the practice and pedagogy of media literacy education (MLE) and news media literacy (NML) toward encouraging critical thinking to limit the effects of exposure to mis- and disinformation. His focus is on the design, assessment, and enactments of MLE & NML in classrooms and other learning environments.

Karen Springen, who spent nearly a quarter century with Newsweek magazine, follows how technology is changing the way journalists report and share their work. In the summer of 2022, she and two Medill undergraduates researched the "Tweetie Burd-en" -- the pressure many journalists feel to use social media. She also reviews books for Booklist.

Larry Stuelpnagel is a former political journalist. He is experienced with the economic and social pressures that impact the news that the public receives. He focuses on the lack of diversity in news staffing and how that impacts reporting on racial and economic issues.

Steven W. Thrasher's research uses journalistic and social science methods to study the intersection of LGBTQ history, racism, policing, incarceration, health disparities and HIV/AIDS. His most recent research focuses on the criminalization of HIV/AIDS and the Black Lives Matter movement in Missouri.

Vijay Viswanathan studies customer experience and marketing effectiveness in B2C and B2B using surveys, text analytics and machine learning. His current work is on online communities, virtual influencers, loyalty programs and governance. He has given numerous talks to industry on customer centricity, embedding AI in analytics and enabling a data culture.

Caryn Ward’s experience and teaching center around video storytelling and broadcast news. She has almost 30 years of experience in local television newsrooms. Ward is also working on research centered around how Gen Z student journalists see their role in the industry and what motivates them to choose journalism.

Zach Wise's research centers on the intersection of technology and journalism. He does iterative applied research in immersive media (AR/VR) and new storytelling forms. Through his work in the Knight Lab at Northwestern, he also creates and directs the creation of storytelling tools that are used by publications all over the world.

Patti Wolter's background includes decades of work in consumer magazines (investigative and women's health). Her teaching centers on magazines, narrative storytelling, narrative structures, and health and science reporting. In addition, she has been working with scientists to understand consumer communication and translating science to lay audiences.

Yu Xu's research interests include communication and organizational change, social networks, media industries, sociocultural evolution, and computational social science. His current research focuses on ecological and evolutionary foundations of behavioral and network change in online communities.