Melissa studies digital and social media, international communication, and news media literacy. Melissa has a particular interest in media produced in and about Africa and has conducted research in Kenya, Ghana, and Burundi. She is currently working on research about misinformation and media literacy in Kenya. Melissa teaches courses that focus on social and digital media for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Berry's research is in the area of African American Cultural Criticism. She is developing a theory called "racialism," which involves the influence of the media on African American images and messages. She is published widely in academic circles with numerous articles based on her research in the area of media, youth, and popular culture. Her two most recent nonfiction projects, The Historical Dictionary of African American Film (Scarecrow Press, 2005) and The 50 Most Influential Black Films (Citadel, 2001) are co-authored with her brother S. Torriano Berry, a professor in film at Howard University in Washington , DC. She also co-edited the book Mediated Messages and African-American Culture: Contemporary Issues (Sage, 1996), which won the Meyers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America in 1997.

David Dowling’s work in digital media and journalism studies centers on developments in publishing industries that drive markets and cultural production. The impact of shifts in online culture and digital publishing industries on multimedia narrative is the focus of Immersive Longform Storytelling: Media, Technology, Audience (2019). This research on digital journalism’s pivot toward increasingly immersive forms—from podcasts to 360/VR and interactive documentaries—provides the foundation in interactive news media for The Gamification of Digital Journalism: Innovation in Journalistic Storytelling (2021), his ninth solo-authored book. Also extending from the 2019 book are studies on podcasting that include two award-winning articles (Dowling & Miller 2019; Fox, Dowling, & Miller 2020) and a current book project on the rise of audio reporting in the digital age.

Meenakshi Gigi Durham is a distinguished scholar, teacher, and writer whose work centers on media and the politics of the body. Her research emphasizes issues of gender, sexuality, race, youth cultures, and sexual violence. She holds a joint appointment in Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies and was Associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 2017-2019.

Brian studies media work within global digital cultures. His research looks at how and why people create media content in the digital era. He has a particular interest in media produced within and about Africa. Brian has professional experience as a software trainer, instructional technologist, and video producer. His documentary 10 Days in Malawi was screened at 11 film festivals and won 8 awards.

Kylah’s research interests lie at the intersection of political communication, environmental communication, and strategic communication. She studies the roles of media and advocacy in politics and policy making. She is especially interested in water and energy issues, particularly how scientific information is used and discussed. Currently she is researching the role of media and advocacy in Iowa environmental and agricultural policy making. Additional projects include examinations of civic engagement, advocacy organizations, community newspapers, and alternative media and their influence in politics.

Tracy’s story began in the world of business as she grew up in a family of small business entrepreneurs. Tracy followed in those footsteps and received a MBA from Thunderbird in Glendale, Arizona. She has worked in Fortune 500 companies, private companies, and been an independent business consultant and owner.

Brett comes to UI after teaching at the Missouri School of Journalism from 2015 to 2022. Brett received his MA from UI SJMC in 2011, and his PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota in 2015. His research and teaching focus on media law, media ethics, media sociology, and the disruptive forces of digital technology on all of these fields. Brett received his JD from the UI College of Law in spring 2024.

An award-winning digital content professional, Adam leverages extensive experience driving audience engagement within sports and entertainment to teach courses in both Sport and Recreation Management and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Previously, Adam was the Vice President of Marketing and Content for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sang studies the interaction between technology, politics, and social identity, with particular attention to the mediating role of social media platforms and the spread of information to the public. Sang specializes in examining messages in a multi-modal form, and utilize both experimental methods and computational approaches to understand how consumers and creators of such content introduce and are impacted by biases.

Joanna Krajewski holds a PhD in Mass Communication, emphasis in Environmental Risk Communication, an MPH in Community and Behavioral Health, and a BA in Communication Studies, all from the University of Iowa. Krajewski worked previously as a professor of and director of strategic communication at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. As an educator, she hopes to inspire students to create communication campaigns that are effective and help make a positive difference in the world.

Teaching for both Communication and Political Science Departments for nearly 20 years has allowed Jamil to blend insights from Political Communication, Media Sociology, and Journalism Studies.

Lillian’s career has been dedicated to newswriting for contemporary audiences. She joined the University of Iowa faculty in January 2016 after previous teaching assignments at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. A longtime journalist in Kansas and Oklahoma, Lillian served 15 years in the newspaper industry, most recently at the Wichita Eagle. She worked as both a copy editor and a reporter covering government, business, health care and higher education. She holds a bachelor of science degree from Kansas State University and a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.

Charles Munro has been a journalist, manager, industry consultant and educator, for over 30 years. He started as a television trainee news writer at WXYZ in Detroit, and moved into producing and after eight years and two Emmy awards for news coverage. A promotion to Assistant News Director took him to WABC-TV in New York City. After ten years with ABC and aspiring to lead a TV newsroom he became News Director WCPO-TV in Cincinnati.

Tom studies contemporary sports media, focusing on established and emerging sports in the US. He specializes in media and cultural studies and is particularly interested in how sports media coverage reinforces and sometimes challenges widely held ideas about race, class, nation, gender, and sexuality. He teaches courses on sports journalism, digital media, and the history and significance of contemporary sports.

Kevin's area of interest is data and information visualization within experiential, participatory, and interactive contexts utilizing web technologies, new technologies, and physical pieces. Subjects he likes to explore in these works include science communication to the public; pop culture & Americana (baseball cards being at the forefront of this inquiry); and heftier subjects such as time and mortality.

Alex Scott’s research is focused on non-fiction practices of visual communication. He analyzes the construction of social difference through visual representation and seeks to illuminate the material processes that engender them. He holds a Ph.D. in Journalism and Media from The University of Texas at Austin.