Serena Carpenter, Assistant Professor

Serena Carpenter joined the faculty in 2007 specializing in newer media and media sociology after finishing her Ph.D. degree at Michigan State University. Carpenter is interested in understanding influences on news content. Her dissertation research was one of the first of a series of quantitative studies on online citizen journalism. She has produced eleven journal publications, two book chapters, 17 conference presentations. Her research has been published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication and Society, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, and Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.

Carpenter teaches courses in the areas of online and broadcast journalism. She regularly reach out to journalistic, academic, and other professional communities. In an attempt to bridge the gap between professionals and academics, she started a blog called “Online Journalism” (http://serenacarpenter.com/). In this blog, she shares teaching materials and deciphers research published in journals for a wider audience.

Carpenter has also taught courses at Michigan State University and Bloomsburg University. Her professional background includes working as a television reporter and in radio advertising sales. Carpenter has produced an award-winning documentary on rural issues.

Carpenter is an active member of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, International Communication Association, Broadcast Education Association and National Communication Association.

Recent Publications
Buis, L., & Carpenter, S. Health and medical blog content and the relationships with blogger credentials and blog host. Accepted for publication in Health Communication.

Carpenter, S. (2008). A study of graduate student authorship in journalism and mass communication journals: 1997-2006. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 63(3), 224-240.

Carpenter, S. (2008). How online citizen journalism publications and online newspapers utilize the objectivity standard and rely on external sources. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 85(3), 533-550.

Carpenter, S. (in press). A study of journalistic and source transparency in U.S. online newspaper and online citizen journalism publications. In G. Monaghan & S. Tunney (Eds.), Web journalism: A new form of citizenship? Eastbourne, UK: Sussex Academic Press.

Fico, F., Zeldes, G., Carpenter, S., & Diddi, A. (2008). Broadcast and cable network news coverage of the 2004 presidential election: An assessment of partisan and structural balance. Mass Communication & Society, 11(3), 319-339.