Publications:
Murder in Our Midst: Comparing Crime Coverage Ethics in an Age of Globalized News (Oxford University Press, 2021). Website: https://murderinourmidst.com
Covering Canadian Crime: What Journalists Should Know and the Public Should Question (University of Toronto Press, 2016).
Teaching:
I have been teaching in FIMS since its inception and given my long history with the department, I have taught a variety of offerings in the undergraduate Media, Information & Technoculture program, as well as in the graduate Journalism/Communications and Media Studies programs. At present, in MIT, I teach a fourth year seminar elective, 4033 (Un)Covering Canadian Crime, and a required third year course, 3120 Media Representations of Women and 3100 Information and the Public Sphere. In the MMJC program, I teach Capstone course as well as a summer graduate offering on women in the media.
Research:
As an interdisciplinary scholar, the broad scope of interests that animates my teaching also outlines my research areas. Generally speaking, I employ a feminist cultural studies approach to considerations of women and/or minorities in mainstream media, journalism and popular culture. I have written about how fairy tales and cultural myths frame criminals and victims in problematic ways (for example, Karla Homolka and Leslie Mahaffy). I have also published work about representations of First Nations people—specifically considering the Ipperwash crisis—and argued that despite ‘best practices,’ newsrooms have inherent biases that make ethical coverage nearly impossible. I am the Principal Investigator in a SSHRC-funded project that is investigating how crime is covered—both in North America and abroad. Along with my American colleague, Professor Maggie Patterson, I am writing a book for Oxford University Press that considers the ethical and cultural implications of what differing newsroom practices of naming or not naming alleged perpetrators and victims ‘means.’ Along with former Media Studies PhD student, now Associate Professor at Young Harris College Chris Richardson, I co-edited a book titled, Covering Canadian Crime: What Journalists Should Know and the Public Should Question (University of Toronto Press, 2016). This book brings together both scholarly and journalistic perspectives as well as offering insights from some of Canada's best-known crime reporters.