Curriculum Vitae Old

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy, Mass Communication, May 2018
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
Areas of Research: Political Communication History
Adviser: Dr Huan Chen
GPA: 4.0

Master of Arts, Journalism, May 2014
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, School of Mass Communication
Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism Honor Society Top Graduate Scholar
Alpha Epsilon Lambda Graduate Honor Society
Adviser: Dr. Dale Zacher
GPA: 4.0

Bachelor of Arts, Journalism, 1986
University of Wyoming, College of Arts and Sciences
Phi Beta Kappa
GPA: 3.88

National Writing Project fellowship, 2012
Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas

FACULTY POSITIONS
Western Kentucky University School of Journalism & Broadcasting, Bowling Green KY
Assistant Professor, August 2017-Present

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Understanding Media Content, Ethics, and Technology (SJB 101): Required large-lecture introductory media studies course primarily for freshman majors in the School of Journalism & Broadcasting.

  • This course explores the nature of media and media content, the role they play in society, and their effects on audiences and culture. Media development is explored from both historical and technological dimensions for both legacy and digital media. Media purposes and practices are considered, including ethics and media law.The course is designed to foster critical thinking and analysis through participation in class discussions and by encouraging students to become thoughtful media consumers.
  • Used Blackboard course management software to create a shell to organize and manage this course and facilitate weekly class discussions.
  • Created a model syllabus for this class for use by all SJB 101 instructors.
  • Created reading quizzes, discussions, unit exams, lectures, and course materials for a class of 80-120 students; evaluated and graded assignments.
  • Conceived and coordinated a class project in which teams of four students conceived multimedia projects expressing their own point of view on how media affects audiences or a new media product that fulfills an unmet need

Media Content, Collaboration and Community (SJB 102): Introductory course in collaborative media content generation for majors in the School of Journalism & Broadcasting.

Instructor of Record, Fall 2017
•This lecture/lab course gives students hands-on experience in key areas of content production, including photography, audio, video, writing, and design.
•Students work in collaborative teams to develop a digital media project on a topic of community interest, using skills learned in key areas.
•Created and presented the course’s writing module for presentation to 200+ students as part of a multidisciplinary teaching team; developed assignments and grading rubrics for the writing portion of the course.
•Oversaw two lab sections of 20 students each, providing hands-on instruction in all five key areas of content production.
•Graded assignments and projects for 40 students in two labs.

Instructor/Teaching Assistant
University of Florida
College of Journalism and Communications
Gainesville, FL
2014-2017

Winner, 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award

Media and Politics (MMC 3614): Elective junior-senior level course for majors in the College of Journalism and Communications

Instructor of Record, Spring and Summer 2017
•This is an online course that explores how the media, politicians, and the voting public interact with and affect each other and how and why media-based politics have become ascendant in the United States.
•Used Canvas course management software to create a shell to organize and manage this course and facilitate weekly class discussions.
•Created a syllabus, assignments, lesson plans, grading rubrics, and course materials for a class of 40; evaluated and graded assignments.
•Topics covered include media influence on the political process; the media’s watchdog role; how politicians shape media coverage; covering campaigns; polling, debates, and political advertising; use of new media in politics; and incivility, negativity, and media bias in politics.

Applied Fact Finding (JOU 3110): Required junior/senior level course for all journalism majors in the College of Journalism and Communications

Instructor of Record, Summer 2016 and Summer 2015
•The emphasis of this course is teaching undergraduate journalism majors how to find, access, and use public records and publicly available information as a reporter.
•Topics covered include using the Florida Sunshine Law, the Florida Public Records Law, and the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain information; using public records ethically in reporting news stories; computer-assisted reporting; and using public records in covering specific beats, including local government, education, legislatures, courts, police, and business.
•Created a syllabus, lesson plans, grading rubrics, and course materials for a class of 20; evaluated and graded assignments, including news stories utilizing public records and a final project that was a comprehensive analysis of all available records related to a single address.
•Coordinated guest appearances by industry experts and working journalists to discuss specific examples and techniques for using public records.

Multimedia Writing (JOU 3109c): Required junior-level course for all journalism and public relations majors in the College of Journalism and Communications.

Lecture Assistant, Fall 2015/Spring 2016
•Under the guidance of Dr. Julie Dodd, helped manage a class of up to 210 undergraduates.
•Periodically lectured to the class on topics such as online journalism, media ethics, and AP style.
•In charge of managing the grading of the class, through use of the Canvas course management system.
•Helped coordinate the activities of six lab instructors, both graduate students and adjuncts.
•Served as a mentor for new lab instructors with no previous teaching experience.
•Guided one lab section of 20 students in honing their skills in news writing, editing, and writing press releases, as well as using social media journalistically.
•Evaluated and graded 20 lab assignments each week, which is 280 assignments over the course of a semester.
•Worked with Dr. Dodd to migrate Multimedia Writing to an online course in preparation for making the public relations major available online, including creating online lecture materials and quizzes and working with the university’s instructional design team.
•Created a set of comma drills designed to strengthen students’ punctuation skills, which were used by the entire teaching team.
•Created a set of exercises in use of AP Style to strengthen students’ newswriting abilities.
•Facilitated the use of a UF-hosted cloud service for use by the teaching team.
•Created a Qualtrics-based midterm evaluation tool for use by the teaching team.

Lab Assistant, Fall 2014/Spring 2015
•Worked as part of a collaborative team of six teaching assistants, managing and guiding two lab sections of 40 students in honing their skills in news writing, editing, and writing press releases, as well as using social media journalistically.
•Evaluated and graded 40 lab assignments each week, which was 560 assignments over the course of a semester.

Adjunct Faculty
Pulaski Technical College
North Little Rock, AR
2011-2014

English Composition Fundamentals (DEVE 0324)
•This is a developmental writing course designed to provide students with a •Taught students basic grammar and punctuation skills, as well as helping them develop the organizational and creative skills needed to write effective essays.
•Taught 40 to 50 students each semester, creating syllabuses, lesson plans, grading rubrics, and course materials.
•Graded 200 to 250 essays each semester.

College Seminar (COLL 1300)
•This is a lecture course designed to introduce incoming students to the college experience and provide them educational and life skills to help them succeed.
•Taught up to 125 students each semester, creating syllabuses, lesson plans, tests, and course materials.
•Managed a web-based component that was a required supplement for students in this class.

North Little Rock School District
North Little Rock, AR
Substitute Teacher
2013-14
•Worked as a substitute teacher in a wide variety of classes at all levels, including elementary, middle, and high school.

Teaching Evaluations
•Summer 2017, MMC 3614, Media and Politics: Overall rating, 4.77 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Spring 2016, MMC 3614, Media and Politics: Overall rating, 4.6 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Summer 2016, JOU 3110, Applied Fact Finding: Overall rating, 4.69 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Spring 2016, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.77 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.
•Fall 2015, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.58 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.
•Summer 2015, JOU 3110, Applied Fact Finding: Overall rating, 4.44 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Spring 2015, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.57 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.
•Fall 2014, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.71 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.

RESEARCH
Research Interests
•Political communication
•Historical analyses of media coverage/framing of political campaigns and movements.
•Effects of negative political advertising

Dissertation
Shumate, R. (December 2017). The origins of the perception of liberal media bias and its relationship to elite media coverage of the emergence of movement conservatism in the United States (1960-1964): An historical perspective (Doctoral dissertation).

Publications
Shumate, R. (Spring 2015). Onward Christian soldiers: How Arkansas political candidates deploy religious texts to motivate voters. Southwestern Mass Communication Journal.

Shumate, R. (2017). Riot, Race, and Placing Blame: Press Coverage of the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese Massacre. In After the War: The Press in a Changing America, 1865–1900. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Shumate, R., McNeff, S., and Waters, S. (2017). Speech v. Conduct, Surcharges v. Discounts: Testing the Limits of the First Amendment and Statutory Construction in the Growing Credit Card Quagmire. New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, 20(1), 149-189.

Research Assistantship
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2013-14
•Research assistant for Professor Carlton Rhodes, who is writing a book about an underground 1960s radio station. Conducted historical research and documentation on all facets of the book project, including evaluating archival materials and previous academic research and conducting oral histories.

PRESENTATIONS
Academic Conferences
Shumate, R. (2016, August). Framing Barry Goldwater: The extreme reaction to his 1964 “extremism” speech. Paper presented at the 2016 AEJMC National Conference, History Division, Minneapolis, MN.
•Warren Price Award/Top Student Paper/History Division

Shumate, R. (2016, August). Pride and prejudice: Anita Bryant, same-sex marriage, and “Hitler’s view” in The Miami Herald. Paper presented at the 2016 AEJMC National Conference, LGBTQ Interest Group, Minneapolis, MN.
•2nd Place Student Paper/LBGTQ Interest Group

Shumate, R. (2016, August). Guilt by association: Barry Goldwater, the anti-communist fringe, and CBS’s Thunder on the Right. Paper presented at the 2016 AEJMC National Conference, Graduate Student Interest Group, Minneapolis, MN.
•Finalist for Top Student Paper/Graduate Student Interest Group

Shumate, R., McNeff, S., and Waters, S. (2016, August). Speech v. Conduct, Surcharges v. Discounts: Testing the Limits of the First Amendment and Statutory Construction in the Growing Credit Card Quagmire. Paper presented at the 2016 AEJMC National Conference, Law and Policy Division, Minneapolis, MN.

Shumate, R. (2016, March). Quick on the (Horn-Rimmed) Draw: Barry Goldwater’s Life in Political Cartoons. Study presented at the 2016 Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, New York, NY.

Shumate, R. (2016, March). Framing Barry Goldwater: The extreme reaction to his 1964 “extremism” speech. Paper presented at the 2016 Southeast Colloquium, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
•Top Student Paper/History Division

Shumate, R. (2016, March). Pride and prejudice: Anita Bryant, same-sex marriage, and “Hitler’s view” in The Miami Herald. Paper presented at the 2016 Southeast Colloquium, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

Shumate, R. (2016, February). Guilt by association: Barry Goldwater, the anti-communist fringe, and CBS’s Thunder on the Right. Study presented at the 2016 AEJMC Midwinter Conference, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.

Shumate, R., Blackstone, G., and Furey, L. (2016, February). What you’ve seen is what you’ll get: Dissecting the “Filter Bubble.” Study presented at the 2016 AEJMC Midwinter Conference, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.

Shumate, R. (2015, November) Riot, race, and placing blame: Press coverage of the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese Massacre. Paper presented at the Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War and Free Expression, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN.
•Student Paper Award of Excellence

Shumate, R., Papadelias, S., and Phillips, T. (2015, August) The government speech doctrine & specialty license plates: A First Amendment Theory perspective. Paper presented at the 2015 AEJMC National Conference, San Francisco, CA.

Shumate, R. (2015, March). Division and attraction: Negative political advertising and the increased popularity of politically opinionated programming. Paper presented at the 2015 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium, Knoxville, TN.
•Top Student Paper/Open Division

Shumate, R. (2015, March). Proposed study: Media framing and the reaction to Barry
Goldwater’s 1964 acceptance speech. Paper presented at the 2015 Joint Journalism and
Communication History Conference, New York, NY.

Shumate, R. (2014, October). Onward Christian soldiers: How Arkansas political candidates deploy religious texts to motivate voters. Paper presented at the Southwest Educational Council for Journalism and Mass Communication Symposium, Denver, CO.
•Top Paper Finalist

Shumate, R. (2014, June). Onward Christian soldiers: How Arkansas political candidates deploy religious texts to motivate voters. Paper presented at the Arkansas Press Women Best Brains Colloquium, Little Rock, AR.

Teaching Conferences
Shumate, R. (2015, July) JRN Scribe: A Journalism Mini-Curriculum for High School Students. Presentation at the Gulf Coast Conference on the Teaching of Writing, Destin, FL.

Shumate, R. (2013, November) Putting it all together: The carpentry of personal voice. Presentation at the Arkansas Curriculum Conference, Little Rock, AR.

Professional Conferences
Shumate, R. (2015, June) AP Style for Public Relations Professionals. Presentation to the Treasure Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association, Fort Pierce, FL.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Chicken Fried Politics, Gainesville FL: Founder and Editor, 2013-Present
•Conceived and designed Chickenfriedpolitics.com, a one-stop shop for political coverage across 14 Southern states.
•Developed content strategy for site, including information architecture, search engine optimization, and style guide used for generation of relevant, timely content that serves the site’s brand.
•Write and edit stores for posting on the site that serve various audiences, including Southerners interested in regional politics and journalists who need a fresh overview of Southern political news.
 
CNN, Atlanta GA: News Editor, 2001-08
•Key player in CNN’s Atlanta-based worldwide newsgathering operation, making decisions on coverage that directly enhanced the network’s brand as the world’s news leader.
•Collaborated with correspondents and producers across the country and around the globe to gather and deliver timely and accurate information to serve millions of viewers of CNN’s six networks and Web site
•Packaged information into the CNN Wire, a web-based news service highlighting original CNN reporting
•In breaking news situations, gathered information directly from sources to provide immediate news to viewers, allowing CNN to best its rivals in a highly competitive industry and maintain its lead in profitability.
•Recognized as one of the network’s best writers, consistently delivering detail-rich copy that was creative and clear and added value for viewers.
•Performed under intense deadline pressure requiring decisiveness, rapid-fire analytical skills and a breadth of knowledge on a wide array of subjects, from politics, business and science to international affairs, natural disasters and pop culture.
•Won an Emmy for coverage of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a Peabody award for coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Sapient Corp., Atlanta, GA: Content Strategist, 1999-2001
•Conceptualized and executed content solutions for Web sites of Fortune 1000 companies that served and enhanced their brand and business objectives.
•Enhanced Sapient’s own brand and profitability by representing the Internet consulting firm during sales presentations to win multimillion-dollar projects, showing prospective clients how their content needs could and would be met.
•Created and wrote client-facing deliverables to earn new business and keep clients educated throughout their engagements, thus building relationships for future revenue.
•Strategic partner on multi-disciplinary teams that took projects from client pitch to launch, coordinating content demands with the work of graphic designers, information architects, code writers and system engineers to create seamless and timely engagements.
•Designed solutions for Nokia, Kodak, Sunglass Hut, Nissan, ING and Reliant Energy, as well as a business-to-business start-up delivering content in three languages to customers in Latin America.

CNN.com, Atlanta, GA: Senior Writer, 1997-99
•Integral contributor to the formative years of the world’s most popular Internet news site, creating compelling content that built a new audience for a new medium and thus broadened CNN’s business beyond television.
•Helped craft best practices for translating television content to the Web to maximize the Internet’s inherent advantages in delivering information, including integrating written copy with video and generating viewer participation to build audience share.
•On constant deadline, wrote smart, sharp and concise copy well-suited to the Web, thus building CNN.com’s brand as the world’s most comprehensive and up-to-date news site.

Windows Media, Atlanta, GA: Editor, 1993-94
•Led the editorial operations of a 15,000-circulation weekly community newspaper in Atlanta, improving and growing the product from 32 to 48 pages per week.
•Managed a three-person editorial staff and oversaw each edition from start to finish, including conceptualizing the content, assigning stories to in-house writers and a pool of freelancers, editing copy, writing editorials, designing pages and overseeing production.
•Served as the newspaper’s representative for questions and concerns from readers and news subjects, balancing the requirements of ethical journalism with the paper’s business needs and community reputation.
•Developed a system to correlate weekly circulation numbers with cover content, generating key data to guide future editorial decisions in order to better serve advertisers by maximizing circulation.

Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta, GA:  Senior Writer, 1991-93
•Key member of the award-winning staff of the Southeast’s largest monthly city magazine, producing long-form stories in narrative style on both news and feature topics, as well as editing a short-form news section called “Insider.”
•First-place winner for feature writing in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Awards, which salute media excellence in 13 Southeastern states.

Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA: Writer/Editor/Columnist, 1990-2003
•Thirteen-year association with the South’s largest alternative newsweekly, both on staff and as a freelancer.
•Served as news editor from 1990-91
•Served a news columnist covering North Fulton County from 1996-99
•Served as a featured political columnist from 2001-03.

The Gainesville Times, Gainesville, GA: Staff Writer, 1987-1990
•Staff writer for daily Gannett Co. newspaper, covering beats including government, business, politics, law enforcement, courts and environmental issues.
•Covered two sessions of the Georgia General Assembly.
•Work cited for excellence by the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Associated Press.

The Mountaineer, Waynesville, NC: Staff Reporter, 1986-87
•Staff reporter for award-winning tri-weekly community newspaper, covering local government, business, agriculture, law enforcement, and courts.
•Work cited for excellence by the North Carolina Press Association.

SERVICE
Graduate Students in Mass Communications Association, University of Florida
•President, 2015-16
•Vice President, 2014-15
•Created website for the GSMCA (cjcgradcentral.wordpress.com)
•Planned social and educational events.
•Helped coordinate college’s inaugural Research Day.

Dean’s Graduate Advisory Council, University of Florida
•Member, 2015-16
•Part of a committee that advises the college dean on issues related to the graduate-
student experience at UF.

Alpha Epsilon Lambda Graduate Honor Society, University of Florida
•Vice President, Board of directors, 2014-15 and 2015-16.
•Worked on reviving UF dormant AEL chapter through recruiting and qualifying eligible graduate students.
•Evaluated candidates for induction and helped plan semi-annual induction ceremonies.

Graduate Student Mentor, UF College of Journalism and Communications
•Served as a mentor to incoming graduate students to help them acclimate to the
graduate student experience.

Journal of Radio and Audio Media
•Publication reviewer, 2015-present.

National Communication Association
•Conference reviewer, 2016.

AEJMC Graduate Student Interest Division
•Conference reviewer, 2016.

Moderator, Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, March 2015
•Moderated a panel of paper presentations entitled Popular Culture and the Media.

Judge, Local Media Association Editorial Contest, March 2015
•Judged entrants in three journalism categories.

Speaker, Mass Communications Colloquium, University of Florida
•Spoke to incoming doctoral students about giving conference presentations.

Speaker, UF College of Journalism Graduate Student Orientation, August 2015
•Part of a panel entitled “Things I Wish I Had Known” to new graduate students.

Graduation Marshal, University of Florida
•Ceremonial marshal for Fall 2014 Commencement.
•Ceremonial marshal for Spring 2015 Commencement.

Exam Proctor, University of Florida
•MMC 4000, Media Law, Feb. 12, 2015.

WEBSITES
Chicken Fried Politics.com
•Blog covering politics across 14 Southern states.
•Professional project for master’s degree at University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Food Fun and Storytellin’
•Journalistic showcase for the Tales From The South radio show in North Little Rock, AR.
•Created for multimedia production class at University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

CJC Grad Central
•Blog designed to serve as a communications hub for the Graduate Students in Mass Communication Association at the University of Florida.

JRN Scribe
•Online mini-curriculum developed to engage high school students in the craft of writing by exposing them to the fundamentals of journalism.
•Designed for use by high school English/Language Arts classes.

AWARDS
2017 Dr. Julie Dodd Graduate Student Teaching Award
•Awarded for teaching excellence in the UF College of Journalism and Communications

Top Student Paper/History Division
•2016 AEJMC National Conference and 2016 Southeast Colloquium, for Framing Barry Goldwater: The extreme reaction to his 1964 “Extremism” Speech.

Student Award of Excellence/Academic Paper
•2015 Symposium on 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression for Riot, Race, and Placing Blame: Press Coverage of the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese Massacre.

Top Student Paper/Open Division
•2015 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium, Division and attraction: Negative political advertising and the increased popularity of politically opinionated programming.

Top Paper Finalist
•2014 Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication Symposium, Onward Christian soldiers: How Arkansas political candidates deploy religious texts to motivate voters.

Top Graduate Scholar, 2013-14
•Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism Honor Society, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Peabody Award, 2005
•Part of CNN team awarded a Peabody for coverage of Hurricane Katrina

Emmy Award, 2002
•Part of CNN team awarded an Emmy for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Award, 1996
•First place award for feature writing for Atlanta Magazine story “Is It Possible to Be Both Gay and Christian?”

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
•Divisions: History, Law and Policy, Newspaper and Online News, and Mass Communication and Society divisions.

National Communication Association
•Divisions: Communication and Law, Freedom of Expression, Mass Communication, and Political Communication

American Journalism Historians Association
Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi
National Council of Teachers of English

TRAINING
Blackboard Instructor Training, WKU, July 2017
Canvas Boot Camp, UF, April 13, 2015
Qualtrics: Getting Started, UF, Feb. 6, 2015
Qualtrics: Moving On, UF, Feb. 13, 2015
Technology for Teaching in UF Classrooms, UF, Jan. 5, 2015.

TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES
SPSS; Qualtrics; Canvas; WordPress; Final Cut Pro; Adobe Photoshop; Adobe Dreamweaver; iMovie; Audacity; SoundCloud; YouTube; Microsoft PowerPoint; Microsoft Excel; Microsoft Word.

FUNDING AWARDS
University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
•Doctoral research funding, $500
University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
•Travel award, $400, 2016 AEJMC National Conference
University of Florida, Brechner First Amendment Project
•Travel award, $800, 2016 AEJMC National Conference
AEJMC Mass Communication and Society Division
•Travel award, $500, 2016 AEJMC Midwinter Conference
University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
•Travel award, $150, 2016 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium
University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
•Travel award, $400, 2016 Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference
University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
•Travel award, $150, 2015 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium
University of Florida, Brechner First Amendment Project
•Travel award, $800, 2015 AEJMC National Conference
University of Florida, Graduate Student Council
•Travel award, $350, 2015 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication
•Travel award, $400, 2015 Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
•Travel award, $150, 2014 SWECJMC Symposium