Fastest finger first: Police tweets about Boston bombing suspect’s arrest

Journalists depend on news sources for information. Quoting official sources also provides legitimacy to news reports. These official sources now use social media, and Twitter functions as another avenue for journalists to monitor information from sources. On Friday, April 19, as the news media and the public closely monitored the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the second suspect in […]

When media coverage of a tragedy becomes tragic: The Boston bombings

In this post, I collected what I thought were very insightful and interesting analyses of how the media—and that includes both traditional media and social media—covered the Boston bombings. These pieces provide a much needed reflection amid the information chaos journalists and citizens are finding themselves in. People crave for information during a crisis, and […]

The effects of media effects research

The comprehensive examination at the Missouri School of Journalism is a nerve-racking but fun process. For several weeks I had to read about 100 journal articles, book chapters, and books from five subject areas. These reading lists were developed in consultation with my dissertation committee members. Then, for five days spread in just two weeks, […]

Teens must think about and discuss politics to learn

By Nathan Hurst MU News Bureau Columbia, Mo. (Sept. 25, 2012) — A strong democracy depends on smart voters who choose their leaders based on their knowledge of important political issues. One of the ways that Americans learn about politics is by following the news. Now, researchers from the Missouri School of Journalism have found […]