Oliver Boyd-Barrett

Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Director, School of Communication Studies; Joint Professor in the Department of Journalism and the Department of Telecommunications Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

"The principal research interests over the course of my career include international communications media, national and international news agencies, globalization and the media, the political economy of mass communication, and educational communications. I wrote the first full-length sociological analysis of the world's major leading news agencies. These interests have also spilled over into my teaching not just in terms of content but also in terms of teaching methodology. I had both part-time and full-time connections with the British Open University, the world's leading and most innovative provider of higher education by distance teaching, from its inception in 1969 through to my departure for the United States in 1998. I later pioneered what may have been the world's first master's program in mass communication by distance learning for the Centre for Mass Communication Research at the University of Leicester (U.K.). This program began in 1995 and boasts hundreds of graduates from every corner of the globe.

"Current research priorities have to do with globalization and the political economy of mass communication, including the specific issue of the future of national and international news agencies. Since 2001 I have focused much of my attention on media coverage of war and terrorism. I have also examined the role of information and communications industries in the rise and fall of American empire. My latest book (as editor) is Globalization, Communications Media and Empire, for John Libbey (2006); and I am working as sole author on a manuscript on media and the war on terrorism for Marquette. I am North American editor for the new Sage journal Global Media and Communication. Through my career I have authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited 14 books, 29 peer-reviewed research or teaching publications, 60 book chapters, 19 articles for professional publications, 10 commissioned reports, 13 translated articles, and have been consultant and contributor to many radio and television programs." CV