Ruth DeFoster

defos002@umn.edu

Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication

111 Murphy Hall

206 Church St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Collegiate Affiliation

Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

B.A.: Mass Communication, magna cum laude, Winona State University, 2008
M.A.: Mass Communication, University of Minnesota, 2010
PhD: Mass Communication, University of Minnesota, 2015

Specialties

Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural analyses
media coverage of crime and terrorism
Mass shootings
Cultural studies
Popular culture
Science, health, and risk communication

Publications

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Publications

Swalve, N. & DeFoster, R. (2017). How Broadcast Media Discuss New Drug Epidemics: Integrating Neuroscience with Communication Studies through Textual Framing. SAGE Research Methods Cases
DeFoster, R. & Swalve, N. (2017). Guns, Culture, or Mental Health? Framing Mass Shootings as a Public Health Crisis. Health Communication. 1-12
DeFoster, R. (2017). Terrorizing the Masses: Identity, Mass Shootings, and the Media Construction of ‘Terror.’ New York: Peter Lang.
Swalve, N. & DeFoster, R. (2016). Framing the Danger of Designer Drugs: Mass Media, Bath Salts and the “Miami Zombie” Attack. Contemporary Drug Problems. 43:2. 103-121.
DeFoster, R., & Squires, C. (2016). What does civility have to do with it? TV News Coverage of the 2011 Tucson Rampage Shooting. In Squires, C. (Ed.), Dangerous Discourses: Feminism, Gun Violence and Civic Life. New York: Peter Lang.
. "Orientalism for a New Millenium: Cable News and the Spector of the 'Ground Zero Mosque'". Journal of Communication Inquiry, Forthcoming January 2015.
Hansen, K., Paul, N., DeFoster, R., & Moore, J. (2011) Retraining News Workers To Meet New Economic, Social and Technological Realities. Newspaper Research Journal.
DeFoster, R. (2010). American gun culture, school shootings, and a "frontier mentality":An ideological analysis of British editorial pages in the decade after Columbine. Communication, Culture & Critique, 3. 466-484. doi:10.1111/j.1753-9137.2010.01081.x

Activities

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Activities

Professional

DeFoster, R. & Shore, Marta. (2017, November 29). The Franken Case is Our Moment of Truth as Progressives. Minneapolis Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/the-franken-case-is-our-moment-of-truth-as-progressives/460871983/
Quoted in Yeun, L. (2017, August 15). Use of ‘Terrorism’ Label Depends on Questions of Rhetoric, Law. Minnesota Public Radio. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/08/15/use-of-terrorism-label-depends-on-questions-of-rhetoric-law
DeFoster, R. (2016, March 10). The Male Factor: the Inescapable Role that Gender Plays in American Violence. Minnesota Women’s Press. http://www.womenspress.com/main.asp?SectionID=124&SubSectionID=690&ArticleID=4914&TM=79383.55
DeFoster, R. (2015, November 16). In the Wake of Mass Shootings, Our Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough. MinnPost. https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2015/10/wake-mass-shootings-our-thoughts-and-prayers-arent-enough
DeFoster, R. (2014, December 3). On Ferguson, Social Media and Racial Empathy. MinnPost. https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2014/12/ferguson-social-media-and-racial-empathy

Research

DeFoster, R.M., Manning, M., & Palokangas, T. (2009, August). Narrating the Bloodbath: How U.S. and Finnish Newspapers Framed the Virigina Tech and Kauhajoki Shootings. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicati...
• DeFoster, R. (2016, August) Black Lives Matter and/in the Press. Panel presentation at the Association for Education in Mass Communication Conference, Cultural and Critical Studies Division, Minneapolis, MN.
Hansen, K., Paul, N., DeFoster, R., & Moore, J. (2010, February). Embracing 21st Century Media: A New Model for Retraining Ad Sales and Editorial Personnel to Negotiate the New Economic, Social and Technological Reality of the Newspaper Business. Paper...
Grant Administrator: Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Grant. June 2009 - June 2010
DeFoster, R. (2010, August). Domestic Terrorism on the Nightly News. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference, Radio and Television Journalism Division, Denver, CO.
DeFoster, R., and Hopkins-Best, N. (2012, August). Construction of Minnesota Muslim Identity: A Critical Analysis of Twin Cities Media. Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference, Cultural and Criti...
DeFoster, R. and Swalve, T. (2013, August). The Miami Zombie Attack: How Broadcast News Media Constructed a ‘Bath Salts Epidemic.’ Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference, Mass Communication and ...
DeFoster, R. (2013, August). Orientalism for a New Millennium: Cable News and the Specter of the ‘Ground Zero Mosque.’ Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference, Cultural and Critical Studies Divis...
• DeFoster, R. (2016, August). Race, Terror and Religion: Researching and Teaching About Violence and Identity in the 21st Century. Panel presentation at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Minneapolis, MN.
• DeFoster, R., Bennett, S., & Kelley, D. (2015, August). Media Construction of the Somali Public. Panel presentation at Teaching About Religion in Public: A Workshop on Theories and Methods for Deepening Public Understanding, University of Minnesota, ...
• DeFoster, R. & Squires, C. (2013, November). Civility vs. Gun Control: The Emergence of a Media Meme in Coverage of the 2011 Tucson Rampage Shooting. Paper presented at the National Communication Association, Mass Communication Division, Washington, ...
DeFoster, R. (2017, February). Teaching During the Era of “Alternative Facts.” Panel Presentation in the Department of Communication Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

Courses

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