The Department of Communication would like to welcome the new Chair, Dr. Kim Meltzer!
Dr. Meltzer received her PhD in Communication from The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. She also holds a BA in Philosophy from Emory University.
Dr. Meltzer joins our faculty from Marymount University, where she has been serving as Director of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Co-Director for the Marymount University Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication, and faculty advisor to The Banner, Marymount’s student newspaper. Prior to directing the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, she served as Chair of the Department of Communication. She has also served on the faculty at Georgetown (2008-2016) and at Lehigh University (2006-2008). Before pivoting into an academic career, she worked for news organizations including CNN, NBC, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Discovery Communications, and Gazette Newspapers.
Professor Meltzer’s teaching and research interests encompass the intersections between journalism studies and political and strategic communication. Her most recent book, From News to Talk: The Expansion of Opinion and Commentary in US Journalism (SUNY, 2019), considers how journalists think and talk about changes in the news environment, with a focus on opinion and commentary in news. A key part of this work is journalists’ perspectives on civility, or the lack thereof, in public discourse. Other notable recent scholarly accomplishments are her study of the use of the term “alt-right” in journalistic discourse in the wake of Charlottesville and the increasing visibility of white nationalism (Journal of Communication Inquiry, 2022) and her work advancing the understanding of journalists as a community of practice (Journal of Communication Inquiry, 2017). Her first book, TV News Anchors and Journalistic Tradition: How Journalists Adapt to Technology, was published in 2010, and her articles and book chapters have appeared in The International Journal of Press/Politics, Journalism, Journalism Practice, Electronic News, National Civic Review and in several edited collections.
August 23, 2023