News Over Noise

Special thanks to our guest: Kate Starbird is a Professor at the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) at the University of Washington (UW). Kate’s research sits within the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). Extending from early work in crisis informatics, her research program has followed the phenomenon of online rumoring...

Special thanks to our guest: Barbie Zelizer is the Raymond Williams Professor of Communication and Director of the Center for Media at Risk at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. A former journalist, Zelizer is known for her work on journalism, crisis, culture, memory and images. She has authored/edited fifteen books and 200 articles/essays. Recipient of multiple f...

Special thanks to our guest: Award-winning writer Tony Norman is the longtime columnist and editorial writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . A former Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan and an adjunct journalism professor at Chatham University, he now freelances for several local and national publications.] Read Tony's Essay, " Requiem for the Post-Gazette . " News Ove...

Special thanks to our guest: Timothy Richardson is the Program Director, Journalism and Disinformation. Timothy previously worked as an Editor at The Washington Post for thirteen years, where he served as the Breaking News Editor on the Metro Desk, placing him in the center of some of the nation’s highest-profile stories, including the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd and the Sto...

Special thanks to our guest: Rachel Besharat Mann, PhD is a scholar at Wesleyan University interested in the academic and personal literacy practices that support adolescents through a sensitive developmental period marked by identity exploration, that in turn provides the foundation for behavior and self-conceptualization in adulthood. Her current work explores how social media impacts adolescent...

Special thanks to our guest: Judd Legum is the founder and author of Popular Information , an independent newsletter dedicated to accountability journalism. P opularInformation won the 2020 Online Journalism Award for Excellence inNewsletters, and its reporting was credited by Bloomberg for bringing a "political reckoning" to corporate America. Previously, Legumfounded and served as editor-in-chie...

Special thanks to our guest: Dr. Amy Kristin Sanders is the John and Ann Curley Professor of First Amendment Studies at Penn State. A licensed attorney and award-winning former journalist, Sanders is an internationally recognized expert on the legal regulation and ethical use of emerging technologies, with an emphasis on freedom of expression and democratic values. She has published more than 30 s...

Special thanks to our guest: Sofia Rubinson is an analyst at NewsGuard and the senior editor of Reality Check , NewsGuard ’s daily newsletter about how false claims spread — and who’s behind them. She investigates emerging false narratives spreading across social platforms and tracks the growing use of AI systems to manufacture and scale misinformation. Producer: Lindsey Whissel Fenton Audio Engin...

This is a special crossover episode between News Over Noise and the Democracy Works podcast featuring guest co-host Jenna Spinelle. Jenna is the Communications Specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. She is responsible for shaping all of the institute’s external communication, including website content, social media, multimedia, and media outreach. She also hosts and produces the In...

Special thanks to our guest: For the past 16 years, Jim Rodenbush has worked with award-winning student media organizations, helping to mentor the next generation of journalists. Most recently, he served as Director of Student Media at Indiana University and taught in The Media School. During his time there, the Indiana Daily Student won 12 Pacemaker Awards and was twice named College Media Outlet...

Special thanks to our guest: Eoin Higgins is a writer based in New England whose work has appeared in progressive and mainstream outlets across the country. His new book on tech billionaires, the media, and the right is  now available for preorder . News Over Noise is a co-production of WPSU and Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications .  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

Special thanks to our guest: Dr. Michelle A. Amazeen is Associate Dean of Research, Associate Professor of Mass Communication, and Director of the Communication Research Center at Boston University’s College of Communication. Her research explores persuasion and misinformation, including how people recognize and resist misleading media. A contributor to The Debunking Handbook 2020 and ranked among...

A special thanks to our guest: Bradford Vivian is Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State. His latest book is Campus Misinformation: The Real Threat to Free Speech in American Higher Education (Oxford University Press). News Over Noise is a co-production of WPSU and Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications .  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswiz...

A special thanks to our guest: Victor Pickard is the C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, where he co-directs the Media, Inequality & Change (MIC) Center. Pickard’s research focuses on media history, journalism studies, and the normative foundations of media policy. He has published more than 150 arti...

A special thanks to our guest: Cory Doctorow  is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently “Picks and Shovels” and “The Lost Cause,” a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. His most recent nonfiction books include “The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation,” a Big Tech disassembly manual, and “Chok...

A special thanks to our guests: Davey Alba is a technology reporter for Bloomberg, based in New York City, covering Big Tech and its influence. Previously, Alba reported for The New York Times on online disinformation and worked at BuzzFeed News and WIRED , covering AI and technology’s societal impact. She has received multiple journalism awards, including the 2019 Livingston Award for internation...

A special thanks to our guest: Gil Duran is a journalist and political strategist who has worked as a spokesman for Jerry Brown, Dianne Feinstein, and Kamala Harris. He later served as California opinion editor at The Sacramento Bee and editorial page editor at The San Francisco Examiner. His work has appeared in The New Republic, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times. He publishes t...

A special thanks to our guest: Bill King is a senior writer for Sports Business Journal. He’s the publication’s lead contributor to In-Depth stories, Special Report coverage and profiles and has won numerous national and regional writing awards since joining SBJ in 1998. News Over Noise is a co-production of WPSU and Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications .  Hosted by Simplecast, a...

Special thanks to our guest: Andrea Wenzel is an Associate Professor of Journalism at Temple University’s Klein College. She is the author of Antiracist Journalism: The Challenge of Creating Equitable Local News (Columbia University Press, 2023) and Community-Centered Journalism: Engaging People, Exploring Solutions, and Building Trust (University of Illinois Press, 2020). A former journalist, her...

Special thanks to our guest: Cory Barker is an assistant teaching professor in the Film Production & Media Studies department and co-host of News Over Noise . His research explores media industry convergence, focusing on legacy media's use of new technologies in production and distribution. His book, Social TV: Multi-Screen Content and Ephemeral Culture (2022), examines the U.S. television industr...

Special thanks to our guests: Elizabeth Estrada is a Cuban American reporter, editor, and producer. As Spotlight PA’s democracy editor, Elizabeth connects voters with the information they need in order to confidently participate in our democracy. She helps shape the growth of Spotlight PA’s service journalism around voting and elections through community engagement, partnerships, and interactive t...

Special thanks to guest: Jack Brewster is Enterprise Editor for NewsGuard. Prior to working at NewsGuard, Brewster was a Fulbright scholar in Munich, Germany, conducting a research project about the role of journalists in the digital age. Previously, Brewster was a reporter at Forbes Magazine, covering politics, misinformation, and extremism. Brewster also has written about politics for Time Magaz...

Special thanks to guest: Chenjerai Kumanyika is an assistant professor in NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Alongside his scholarship and teaching, disciplinary service on the intersections of social justice and media, Kumanyika specializes in using narrative non-fiction audio journalism to critique the ideology of American historical myths about issues such as race, the Civil War, and...

Special thanks to our guests: Rebecca Landsberry-Baker is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the executive director of the Indigenous Journalists Association. She is a recipient of the 2018 NCAIED “Native American 40 Under 40” award and was selected to the Harvard Shorenstein News Leaders Fall 2022 cohort. Landsberry-Baker made her directorial debut with the documentary feature...

Special thanks to guest: Geoff Dembicki is an investigative climate journalist based in NYC. He is a regular contributor to the media outlet DeSmog and author of The Petroleum Papers , which was named a top ten book of 2022 by the Washington Post. News Over Noise is a co-production of WPSU and Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications .  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See p...