Drop-in hours

Spring 2026: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 9:30 - 10:30 am 

What is Sarah's story?

Sarah E. Witmer is a PhD candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa and the Reviews Editor for the Journal of Communication Inquiry. Her research examines how people use digital media to pursue justice and meaning-making amid declining institutional trust.

Before joining the University of Iowa, Witmer worked as a television news producer and associate professor in San Diego, California.

Recent publications

• Witmer, S. E. (2026). ‘What the Hell Can Journalism Even Do?’: Metajournalistic Discourse Through Podcast Performance. Journalism and Media, 7(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia7010020
• Witmer, S. (2025). Video Vigilantes: The Digital Fight for Vengeance Against Perpetrators on TikTok. Social Media + Society, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251382473
• Witmer, S., & Dowling, D. O. (2024). True Crime Podcasting as Participatory Journalism: A Digital Ethnography of Collaborative Case Solving. Journalism and Media, 5(4), 1702-1722. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5040104
• Witmer, Sarah & Dowling, David. (2025). Cross-border crime and collaborative journalism: Leveraging transnational production and listenership for true crime podcasts. (Podcast in the future of journalism).