FIMS Profile

Romayne Smith Fullerton
Professor
Faculty Scholar

FIMS & Nursing Building Room 4139
Phone: 519-661-2111 x86663

University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
Fax: 519-661-3506
romayne.smithfullerton@uwo.ca
  • About Me

  • Teaching

  • Research

  • Courses Taught

  • Theses Supervised

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.


FIMS 9501 Good and Mad: Women, Emotion, Media and the Public Sphere 2021 Summer JOU 521 News Issues in Canada 1998 Winter JOU 530 Ethics in Journalism 1997 Fall JOU 532 Communications Theory 1998 Winter JOU 570 Women in the Media 1997 Fall JOU 700 Introduction to Journalism 2007 Summer , 2006 Summer , 2005 Summer , 2004 Summer , 1998 Summer (2 sections) JOU 704 Journalism Law and Ethics 2002 Fall , 2002 Winter , 2001 Winter , 2000 Winter , 1999 Winter JOU 708 Media Literacy 2000 Fall , 1999 Fall JOU 709 Women and the Media 1999 Winter JOU 753 Theory and Practice of Print Journalism 2003 Fall , 2002 Fall JOU 9700 Introduction to Journalism 2012 Summer , 2011 Summer , 2010 Summer , 2009 Summer JOU 9708 Media Theory and Criticism 2014 Fall (2 sections) , 2013 Fall (2 sections) , 2012 Fall , 2011 Fall (2 sections) , 2011 Winter , 2010 Winter JOU 9713 Introduction to Print Journalism 2013 Summer MIT 025 Media in Society 2007 Winter , 2006 Winter , 2005 Winter (2 sections) MIT 3100 Information in The Public Sphere 2023 Fall , 2019 Fall , 2018 Fall , 2017 Fall , 2016 Fall , 2012 Fall , 2011 Winter , 2010 Winter , 2009 Winter MIT 3210 Media Representations of Women 2023 Summer , 2014 Fall , 2013 Fall , 2011 Fall , 2011 Winter , 2010 Winter , 2009 Winter MIT 325 Media Representations of Women 2007 Winter , 2006 Winter , 2005 Winter MIT 4033 Special Topics in MIT: (Un)Covering Canadian Crime 2023 Fall , 2021 Fall , 2020 Fall , 2017 Fall , 2016 Fall MIT 4034 Sex, Myth & Media 2009 Winter MIT 435 Mainstream News: Dismantling Method, Gender & Ethics 2007 Winter MMJC 9200 Doing Democracy Right or Doing Right by Democracy? Ethics, Critical Theory and the Public Right to Know 2023 Fall , 2021 Fall , 2020 Fall , 2019 Fall , 2018 Fall MMJC 9701 Internship Capstone Project 2021 Summer , 2020 Summer , 2019 Summer , 2018 Summer , 2017 Summer , 2016 Summer

Hoad-Reddick, Kate. Pitching the Feminist Voice: A Critique of Contemporary Consumer Feminism
Phd in Media Studies, November 2017
Supervisor: Romayne Smith Fullerton
Richardson, Gemma. (Un)covering Suicide: The Changing Ethical Norms in Canadian Journalism
Phd in Media Studies, August 2014
Supervisors: Carole Farber and Romayne Smith Fullerton
Rotstein, Cari. Online Social Breast-Working: Representations of Breast Milk Sharing in the 21st Century
Master of Arts in Media Studies, December 2012
Supervisors: Pam McKenzie and Romayne Smith Fullerton
Richardson, Christopher. Communicating Crimes: Covering Gangs in Contemporary Canadian Journalism
Phd in Media Studies, July 2012
Supervisor: Romayne Smith Fullerton
Feliciano Ortiz, Raul. Watching the games: Critical media literacy and students' abilities to identify and critique the politics of sports
Phd in Media Studies, April 2012
Supervisors: Carole Farber and Romayne Smith Fullerton
Hiltz, Emily. A Force of Nature: The Maternal Appetite of Good and Evil Women in "Snow White," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Rapunzel."
Master of Arts in Media Studies, June 2011
Supervisor: Romayne Smith Fullerton