Research and Writing

Research

I received a Ph.D in Communication from the University of California, San Diego in 2016.

My research combines some conceptual and methodological tenets of media and cultural studies with contemporary topics in communications law and political communication. In the past few years, I have written primarily about the tension between reputation and freedom of expression on internet platforms. In addition to my book, Reputation Management Online: America’s Right to Be Forgotten (Routledge/National Communication Association, 2022), this work has also appeared in First Amendment Studies, Social Media + Society and Journal of Media Ethics. Some other topically-related writing on the regulation of internet platforms and content moderation appears in Communication Law Review and the International Journal of Communication.

In recent years I’ve also become more interested in the politics of media regulation. Some of my newer writing (in American Quarterly and First Amendment Studies, as well as several years ago on the website Times Higher Education) has explored current issues regarding free speech and politics in higher education. A new piece in Journal of Communication Inquiry, likewise, examines the emergence of a populist faction in the American right-wing media that is critical of some traditional conservative legal viewpoints regarding media concentration and antitrust generally. This writing is part of the groundwork for a book project that situates current legal and political debates about regulating “big tech” within the history of right-wing perspectives on media regulation and free speech in America.

My earlier work on representation and American popular culture has appeared in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television and Film & History. Much of my published writing is available in preprint form on my Academia page.

Professional Affiliations and Service

I have been a member of the editorial board of the NCA journal Communication & Democracy since 2019. I am an active participant in the Freedom of Expression Division of NCA, for which I currently serve as Second Vice Chair, and the Freedom of Speech Division of SSCA, for which I currently serve as Secretary.

Over the years, I have presented my work at the conference meetings of a number of organizations. These include the National Communication Association (NCA), International Communication Association (ICA), Southern States Communication Association (SSCA), Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Law and Society Association, Cultural Studies Association, and Policy History Association. I have also presented at topical conferences, such as the “Mediating Change” conference at the University of North Texas (November 2018), the Digital Ethics Symposium at Loyola University in Chicago (November 2018), and the “All Things in Moderation” conference on content moderation at UCLA (December 2017).