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, […]

Study comparing bloggers, journalists wins top faculty paper

Here is the abstract of one of my three papers to be presented at the International Communication Association conference in London in June. This paper, co-authored with Dr. Bruno Takahashi of the Michigan State University’s School of Journalism, won top faculty paper from the Environmental Communication Interest Group. THE CHANGING NATURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSE An […]

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 […]

Plagiarism pandemic: Is copying contagious?

It is shocking, unthinkable, and embarrassing, that a senator of the Republic of the Philippines will deliver a speech, for everyone to hear, with passages copied from a blog that everyone with an internet connection can access. High-profile copying, however, is no longer an original act. In an online world overloaded with information, where cutting-and-pasting […]

Why freedom of information can make people happy

The Philippines takes pride in having a free press, and yet the Freedom House Index (FHI), the most cited index of press freedom, rates the country as only “partly free.” Having a free press is important for democracy to flourish, and this is especially true for young democracies such as the Philippines. In a study […]

Noynoy, Noli and the norm of objectivity

President Noynoy Aquino has been criticized for criticizing Noli de Castro, a former vice president and an anchor of ABS-CBN’s news program TV Patrol. It was very rude, even childish, others said, for the President to devote parts of his speech for TV Patrol’s silver anniversary to his tirades against the former vice president. Others […]

Accepting rejections

I have learned to accept rejections. Two years into my doctoral degree, I have had my share of rejected conference paper submissions. A classmate even asked me once how it felt to have a paper rejected because she had never experienced having one. Ouch. But I have learned to accept rejections. They are part of my […]

The theory that theory doesn’t work

One night I read a book about building theories. Nope, I did not build a new theory after reading it, but at least it made me write again. So how about discussing “theory” in a national paper? Here is how it looked, as published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/221605/the-theory-that-theory-doesn%E2%80%99t-work COLUMBIA, Missouri—For many industry people, […]

Of studying and cooking

An edited (and much better) version of this rant is on today’s issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I am posting here my original draft, typos and all.  I love food. It nourishes me. It makes me happy. So when I got a Fulbright scholarship to study in the US almost two years ago, I […]

Happiness in Bhutan

The ride offers you a jaw-dropping view of the snow-covered peaks of the Himalayan Range rising out of the thick clouds, but then the plane suddenly dips, navigating through the jagged Himalayan mountains, right into a small opening that’s called the Paro airport in Bhutan. It is probably the scariest plane ride I ever had […]