Dr. Rich Shumate is an assistant professor of journalism in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s School of Mass Communication, teaching classes in reporting and newswriting, media research, and podcasting. His academic research focuses on audience responses to political coverage in the news media, specifically perceptions of news media bias among partisans.

He is the author of Barry Goldwater, Distrust in Media, and Conservative Identity: The Perception of Liberal Bias in the News (Lexington Books, 2021), which examines why U.S. conservatives developed the perception that the news media have a liberal bias during the early 1960s.

Prior to shifting into academia, Shumate worked for more than 25 years as a journalist, with experience on newspapers and magazines in Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Wyoming. He also spent 10 years at CNN’s world headquarters in Atlanta, working as a senior writer for CNN.com and as an editor on the network’s domestic newsgathering desk. He was also the founder and editor of Chicken Fried Politics.com, a website that covered politics across 14 Southern states from 2013-2022.

Shumate holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications; an M.A. in journalism from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; and a B.A. in journalism from the University of Wyoming.

At the University of Central Arkansas, Shumate taught JOUR 2300 Beginning Reporting, which introduces students to basic reporting and newswriting skills; JOUR 3300 Advanced Reporting, which hones students reporting skills in preparation for the professional world, including public records reporting, data journalism, and online branding; JOUR 3345 Online Publishing I, which equips students in online publishing practices and techniques, including writing, photography, videography, and multimedia elements; and JOUR 3346 Online Publishing II, which builds on the skills of Online Publishing I to help students create their own journalistic blogs.

At Western Kentucky University, Shumate taught JOUR 202, Newswriting, which introduces students to the techniques and conventions of newswriting; JOUR 302, Intermediate Reporting, in which students learn reporting skills, including use of public records and public affairs reporting; JOUR 426, Advanced Reporting, a project-based capstone class for seniors preparing for the professional world; SJB 421, American Press History, which looks at U.S. media history from the Colonial era to the present day; SJB 420, First Amendment Reporting, the Fleischaker-Greene Scholars program for First Amendment studies; SJB 101, Understanding Media Content, Ethics, and Technology, an introductory media studies class; and SJB 102, Media Content, Collaboration, and Community, a hands-on class for students to gain experience in a variety of media disciplines.

At the University of Florida, Shumate was a lecture assistant and lab assistant for Multimedia Writing, the beginning newswriting course for journalism and public relations majors. He has also taught Applied Fact Finding, in which upper-level undergraduate students learn the ins and outs of how to access and use public records in their reporting, and Media and Politics, which explores the role media play in American politics. From 2011 to 2014, he also taught composition at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

A Wyoming native, Shumate now lives in Little Rock, AR. His email address is rxshumate (at) ualr (dot) edu