Sergei A. Samoilenko

Sergei A. Samoilenko

Sergei A. Samoilenko

Associate Professor

subversive strategic communication, reputation management, climate misinformation, crisis communication, political campaigns, public relations,

Sergei A. Samoilenko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at George Mason University. His research centers on strategic communication, reputation management, and climate misinformation. He is a founding member of the Research Lab for Character Assassination and Reputation Protection (CARP) and the Subversive Strategic Communication Research Initiative. 
 
 
Mason Media about Sergei Samoilenko:

Selected Publications

Google Scholar: Sergei A. Samoilenko 

Samoilenko, S. A., & Simmons, S. (2025). Handbook of social and political conflict. Wiley. 

Shiraev, E., Keohane, J., Icks, M., & Samoilenko, S. A. (2022). Character assassination and reputation management: Theory and applications. Routledge.

Minielli, M., Lukacovic, M., Samoilenko, S. A., Finch, M. with Uecker, D. (2022). Communication theory and its application in post-socialist contexts. Lexington Books.

Minielli, M., Lukacovic, M., Samoilenko, S. A., Finch, M. with Uecker, D. (2021). Media and public relations research in post-socialist societies. Lexington Books.

Samoilenko, S.A., Icks, M., Keohane. J., & Shiraev, E. (2020). Handbook of character assassination and reputation management. Routledge.

Chiluwa, I.E., & Samoilenko, S.A. (2019). Handbook of research on deception, fake news, and misinformation online. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. This edited volume was selected as a core reference title by IGI Global International Publisher in 2019 and 2020.

Expanded Publication List

Samoilenko, S. A. (2026). The rise of subversive strategic communication. Corporate Communication Review, 2(1), 4-11. https://doi.org/10.63904/ccr.v2i1.33

Samoilenko, S. A., & Cook, J. (2026). Developing a critical response to ad hominem attacks against climate science. American Behavioral Scientist, 70(7), 981–1002. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642241240352.

Benoit, W. L., & Samoilenko, S. A. (2026). Political cartoons as a medium for persuasive attack: The case of Governor Noem the Puppy Killer. In M. Icks & E. Shiraev (Eds.). Character assassination throughout the ages (2nd ed.) (pp. 316-331). Routledge. 

Samoilenko, S. A. (2025). The tricksters of permanent liminality. In The Handbook of Social and Political Conflict. Wiley.

Samoilenko, S. A., & Nai, A. (2025). Character assassination in electoral negative campaigns. In P. Baines, P. Harris, D. Hejlová, & C. Panagopoulos (Eds.), The Sage handbook of political marketing (pp. 482–491). SAGE. 

Samoilenko, S. A., & Cook, J. (2024). Developing an ad hominem typology for classifying climate misinformation. Climate Policy, 24(1), 138-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2023.2245792

Samoilenko, S. A., & Jasper, J. M. (2023). The implications of character assassination and cancel culture for public relations theory. In C. Botan & E. J. Sommerfeldt (Eds). Public relations theory III (pp. 452-469). Routledge. 

Samoilenko, S. A., & Langley, Q. (2023). Character assassination and brandjacking in digital corporate communication. In V. Luoma-aho, & M. Badham (Eds.), Handbook of digital corporate communication (pp. 222-236). Edward Elgar.

Samoilenko, S. A. (2021). Character assassination: The sociocultural perspective. Journal of Applied Social Theory, 1(3), 186-205.

Compton, J., Wigley, S., & Samoilenko, S. A. (2021). Inoculation theory and public relations. Public Relations Review, 47(5), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102116

Education

Sergei A. Samoilenko earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees in Communication from George Mason University. He also holds a B.A. and an M.A. in theoretical and applied linguistics from Kuban State University in Krasnodar, Russia.