Education
Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, 2008
John F. Kirch
Associate Professor
Areas of Expertise
News reporting
News writing
Journalism history
Media literacy
Media analysis
Political journalism
Political campaign coverage
Coverage of dissent
Biography
Dr. Kirch teaches courses in journalism history, news writing, news reporting, media theory, online journalism and media literacy. Previously, he worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine editor for 16 years where he covered a wide-range of issues, including gubernatorial and congressional campaigns, business profiles, spot news such as murders and fires, education, the environment, and national and industrial security issues. His main research interests include media history and the intersection of journalism and politics. His dissertation, , is a two-part study that examines (1) how minor-party political candidates are covered by the mainstream media when they do receive coverage, and (2) why reporters tend to ignore political contenders who do not come from the Democratic or Republican parties. The study concludes that American journalists have accepted the hegemony of the two-party system without question and have, in many ways, been co-opted by the Democrats and Republicans. Rather than encouraging free flowing debate during an election campaign, the news media act as barriers to American political discourse, excluding marginalized voices from the discussion and failing to challenge the dominate narratives established by political elites.
Publications
- Kirch, John. (Summer 2016). 鈥淐ommunity Newspapers and Third-Party Candidates.鈥� Community Journalism 5 (1), 1-23.
- Kirch, John. (Spring 2016). 鈥淰irginia鈥檚 Invisible Candidate: News Coverage of the Virginia 2013 Gubernatorial Campaign.鈥� Journal of Communication Inquiry 40 (2), 162-178.
- Kirch, John. 鈥淣ews Coverage Different for Third-Party Candidates.鈥� Newspaper Research Journal 34, no. 4 (Fall 2013).
- Kirch, John. 鈥淭urning a Blind Eye: Why Reporters Ignore Third-Party Candidates.鈥� Newspaper Research Journal (Fall 2015).
- Kirch, John. 鈥淐ompeting Narratives: Raymond Bonner and the Salvadoran Civil War: 1980 to 1983.鈥� American Journalism (Summer 2015).
- Book Review: John F. Kirch. 鈥淭he Times-Picayune in a Changing Media World: The Transformation of an American Newspaper.鈥� American Journalism 32 no. 1 (Spring 2015).