I am an assistant professor at the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. My main research focus is on the growing influence of new media formats. I have presented numerous research papers at national and international conferences and have published several articles in academic journals and books. I am especially interested in the impact of social media and blogs on traditional news media coverage and political discourse as well as the adoption of these new media formats.
I am teaching in the undergraduate journalism program as well as the graduate multimedia journalism program at VCU. In recent semesters, I have taught classes in social media networking, online journalism, beat reporting, global communication, business of media, research methods as well as convergence law and ethics. In 2011, I received a Promising Professor Award for excellence in teaching from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
Before becoming a journalism professor, I worked as a newspaper reporter, editor and correspondent in my native Germany and the U.S. I earned my Ph.D. in Communication and my M.A. in Print Journalism from the University of Miami in Florida and my B.A. in English Literature from Angelo State University in Texas.
I am currently serving on the advisory board of the Social Media Club Education Connection (SMCEDU). I am also a past head of the AEJMC Communication Technology Division (2010-11).
Please send an e-mail to receive a complete CV.
