Download (August 2001). - NYU Steinhardt

RODNEY D. BENSON
New York University
Department of Media, Culture, and Communication
239 Greene Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10003-6674
e-mail: [email protected]
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Media, Culture, and Communication, fall 2009New York University
Associate Professor, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, fall 2008 –
New York University
Affiliated Faculty Member, Department of Sociology, 2005 –
New York University
Assistant Professor, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, 2002-2008
New York University
Assistant Professor, Department of International Communications / Department of Social
Sciences and History
The American University of Paris, spring 2000-spring 2002
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 2000
M.A., Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 1994
M.I.A., International Affairs, Columbia University, 1994
B.A., Journalism and Mass Communication, Iowa State University, 1983
PUBLICATIONS
I. Refereed Journal Articles
“What Makes for a Critical Press? A Case Study of French and U.S. Immigration News
Coverage.” International Journal of Press/Politics, 15, 1 (winter 2010): 3-24.
“What Makes News More Multiperspectival? A Field Analysis.” Poetics, 37, 5-6
(fall 2009): 402-418.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 2 of 18
“Shaping the Public Sphere: Habermas and Beyond.” The American Sociologist, 40 (fall
2009): 175-192.
“How States, Markets and Globalization Shape the News: The French and U.S. National
Press, 1965-1997.” (Lead author, with Daniel C. Hallin). European Journal of
Communication 22, 1 (March 2007): 27-48.
“Etats-Unis: Un Echo du 11 Septembre.” (Second author, with Valerie Streit; article on
U.S. news coverage of Madrid terrorist bombing in special issue on international
media events). Hermès, 46 (2006): 95-100.
“News Media as a ‘Journalistic Field’: What Bourdieu adds to New
Institutionalism, and Vice Versa.” Political Communication 23, 2 (2006):
187-202.
“Constructing Social Problems in an Age of Globalization: A French-American
Comparison.” (Lead author, with Abigail C. Saguy). American Sociological
Review 70, 2 (2005): 233-259.
“American journalism and the politics of diversity.” Media, Culture & Society 27, 1
(2005): 1-20.
(Earlier, shorter French-language version: “Journalisme et marketing: l’enjeu de la
diversité.” Quaderni (University of Paris-Sorbonne) 47 (2002): 85-100.
(Updated, revised version in Race/Gender/Media: Considering diversity across
audiences, content, and producers, 2nd edition, ed., Rebecca Ann Lind,
Longman, 2010: 333-340).
“Bringing the Sociology of Media Back In.” Political Communication, 21 (2004): 275292.
“Why Conceptual Models and ‘Big’ Institutions Matter: A Response to David
Altheide, Nina Eliasoph, William Gamson, and Todd Gitlin.” Political
Communication, 21 (2004): 311-314.
“La fin du Monde?: Tradition and Change in the French Press.” French
Politics,Culture & Society 22, 1 (2004): 108-126.
“The political/literary model of French journalism: Change and continuity in immigration
coverage, 1973-1991.” Journal of European Area Studies 10, 1 (2002): 49-70.
“La logique du profit dans les médias américains.” Actes de la recherche en sciences
sociales 131-132 (2000): 107-115.
(English-language abridged version published as: “Tearing down the ‘Wall’ in
American Journalism.” Core: International Journal of the Humanities (Paris)
1, 1 (2001).
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 3 of 18
“Field theory in comparative context: a new paradigm for media studies.”
Theory and Society 28, 3 (1999): 463-498.
“Global knowledge: How media effects research can aid globalization theorizing.”
Berkeley Journal of Sociology 40 (1996): 61-84.
II. Books
Framing Immigration: How the French and American Media Shape Public Debate
(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, “Communication, Society and
Politics” series, forthcoming).
Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field. (Editor, with Erik Neveu). Cambridge, UK: Polity,
2005.
“Introduction: Field Theory as a Work in Progress.” (Co-authored with Erik
Neveu). In R. Benson and E. Neveu, eds., Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field
(Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2005): 1-25.
“Mapping Field Variation: Journalism in France and the United States.” In R.
Benson and E. Neveu, eds., Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field (Cambridge,
UK: Polity, 2005): 85-112.
III. Book Chapters
“Comparative News Media Systems.” In Stuart Allan, ed., Routledge Companion
to News Media and Journalism Studies, ed. Stuart Allan (London: Routledge,
2010): 614-626.
“Futures of the News: International Considerations and Further Reflections.” In Natalie
Fenton, ed., New Media, Old News (London: Sage, 2010): 187-200.
“Space, Place, and the Changing American Mediascape.” (Co-author with Aurora
Wallace). In F. Eckardt and Martina Zschocke, eds., MediaCity (Weimar,
Germany: Bauhaus University Publishers, 2007): 209-226.
“Commercialism and Critique: California’s Alternative Weeklies.” In J. Curran and N.
Couldry, eds., Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked
World (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003): 111-127.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 4 of 18
IV. Reviews and Encyclopedia Articles
Review of Aeron Davis’s The Mediation of Power: A Critical Introduction
(Routledge, 2007).
International Journal of Press/Politics 14, 4 (October 2009): 523-524.
Review of Paul C. Adams’s Atlantic Reverberations: French Representations of an
American Presidential Election (Ashgate, 2007).
International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics 4, 3 (2008): 409-412.
“Normative Theories of Journalism.” The Blackwell International Encyclopedia of
Communication (Wolfgang Donsbach, ed., 2008): 2591-2597.
Review of Paul Starr’s The Creation of the Media.
Archives européennes de sociologie/European Journal of Sociology XLVI, 3
(2005): 541-544.
Review of Pablo Boczkowski’s Digitizing the News.
New Media & Society 7 (2005): 854-857.
Review of John David Skrentny’s (ed.) Color Lines and Joel Fetzer’s Public Attitudes
toward Immigration in the United States, France, and Germany.
Public Opinion Quarterly 67, 2 (2003): 304-310.
Review of Bridget Fowler’s Bourdieu and Cultural Theory.
Social Forces 78, 1 (1999): 366-368.
“Making the Media See Red: Pierre Bourdieu's campaign against television journalism.”
French Politics and Society 16, 2 (1998): 59-65.
(Republished in Pierre Bourdieu 2 [four-volume set], edited by Derek Robbins.
London: Sage, 2004).
“Media power: A French critical perspective.” (Review/essay on Rethinking Media
Theory, by Armand and Michèle Mattelart).
Journal of International Affairs 47 (1993): 279-286.
“The nation -- A state of mind.” (Review of Imagined Communities, by Benedict
Anderson) Journal of International Affairs 45 (1992): 639-645.
V. Commissioned Book Chapters / Invited Articles or Reviews
Review of Tamara Chaplin’s Turning on the Mind: French Philosophers on Television
(University of Chicago Press, 2007). French Politics, Culture, and Society. Due
Fall 2010.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 5 of 18
“Bourdieu and the Media.” Invited to write article for online journal Sociology Compass
(fall 2010 issue).
Bourdieu and the Media (Cambridge, UK: Polity, under contract for completion 2011).
VI. Other Articles in Progress
“Is the Internet ‘Americanizing’ or ‘Europeanizing’ the News? A Comparison of Danish,
French, and U.S. print and online newspapers.” Lead author, with co-authors
Matthew Powers, Ida Schultz, Mark Orsten, and Sandra Vera. 30 pp. manuscript,
under review. Summer 2010.
MISC. PUBLICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
“What Makes for a Critical Press? Research Shows a Role for Government Support”,
invited guest blog for “Freepress.com” on my recent French-U.S. comparative
research, January 21, 2010, accessible at:
http://www.savethenews.org/blog/10/01/21/what-makes-critical-press-researchshows-role-government-support
Unpaid consultant to French-American Foundation, invited to serve as member of
planning committee for second “Covering Immigration” conference to be held in
Miami, May 7-9, 2010 (I was invited and participated as a non-speaker at the first
conference held in Paris, Nov. 2009)
Unpaid consultant to Free Press (Robert McChesney, founder), participated in Strategic
Policy Roundtable on Saving Journalism, New York, April 7, 2009
Unpaid consultant to Victory Navasky, Professor, Columbia School of Journalism,
analysis of design of survey instrument for online news media study, fall 2009
“Content Analysis.” Wrote and presented segment for educational film “Qualitative
Research Methods in the Social Sciences.” Insight Media: Odyssey Productions,
2006.
“The Mediated Public Sphere: A Model for Cross-National Research.” Working Paper
#2001-7, Center for the Study of Culture, Organizations and Politics. University
of California, Berkeley. Available at http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu
/~iir/culture/papers.html . August 2001.
“The ‘Americanization’ of the European City? An Analysis of Contemporary French
Scholarly and News Media Discourse on Urban Problems and the Banlieue.”
Center for German and European Studies, University of California-Berkeley. Coauthored with Loïc J.D. Wacquant. March 1998.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 6 of 18
“Telecommunications and society: a critical review of the research literature on
computer-mediated communications.” Working Paper, Berkeley Roundtable on
the International Economy (BRIE). Cited extensively in Manuel Castells, The Rise
of the Network Society (vol. I). August 1994.
“The Future of the Newspaper.” Working Paper, Freedom Forum Center for Media
Studies (Produced for Freedom Forum fellow James Hoge). New York, May
1992.
“The British are coming; How the BBC is enlarging its empire.”
Columbia Journalism Review (July/August 1991).
“Drowning pool?; Why some older NBC employees have that sinking feeling.”
Columbia Journalism Review (May/June 1991).
“Fake my day: a pose is a pose is a pose.” (Review/essay on What I Saw at the
Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era, by Peggy Noonan).
In these Times (March 21-27, 1990).
SELECTED MEDIA INTERVIEWS / CITATIONS
“French Connections.” Columbia Journalism Review, May/June 2010, p. 63. Review of
my article (“What Makes for a Critical Press? (Press/Politics, 15, 1: 13-24) by
Michael Schudson and Julia Sonnevend.
“What Makes for a Critical Press? Research Shows a Role for Government Support”,
invited guest blog for “Freepress.com” on my recent French-U.S. comparative
research, January 21, 2010, cited by The Newspaper Guild, National Affairs
“Inside Information”, and other websites.
Interviewed by Columbia Spectator for story concerning how scandals affect university
reputations, “Getting a Handle on Scandal,” February 25, 2007.
Interviewed by Brazilian newspaper O Globo for story concerning U.S. presidential
candidates’ use of internet websites, “Uma brigada eletrônica: Candidatos usam
internet para chegar aos eleitores,” January 28, 2007.
Interview requested by ABC News concerning Venezuelan news media during Pres. Bush
trip to the region, fall 2005 (declined because in Germany at the time of request).
Interviewed by Japanese Nippon TV, on U.S. and Japanese governmental regulation of
foreign media ownership, February 24, 2005.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 7 of 18
Provided background information about French press in response to requests from
International Herald-Tribune Deputy Managing Editor Robert Marino (June
2007) and New York Times reporter Marc Lacey (2005).
Quoted in German Online Technology Review, article by Gabriele Hooffacker,
September 26, 2004. Available at
http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/konf/18415/1.html.
(Quotes from my talk “Public Relations in the Journalistic Field,” European
Public Relations and Research Assoc. Conference, Leipzig, Germany, September
2004).
“Journalism, French and American Style.” On-Line Interview with Jay Rosen,
“Pressthink” website, December 2003. Available at http://journalism.nyu.edu/
pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2003/12/05/benson_interview.html
Quoted in Pierre Péan and Philippe Cohen. La face cachée du Monde: Du contre-pouvoir
aux abus de pouvoir. Paris: Fayard, 2003 (French best-selling book about Le
Monde).
SELECTED VISITING PROFESSORSHIPS AND INVITED LECTURES
“Public Spheres, Fields, and Networks: Conceptualizing Local, National, and Global
Communications.” Invited speaker for conference on “Internationalizing
‘International Communication’”, Center for Communication Research, City
University of Hong Kong, December 3-5, 2010.
“How the U.S. and French Media Framed Immigration, 1973-2006.” Opening speaker,
French-American Foundation Conference on “Covering Immigration.” Miami,
May 5-6, 2010
“What is news diversity and how do we get it? Lessons from comparing French and
American immigration coverage.” Invited Speaker for Conference on News and
Inclusion: Journalism and the Politics of Diversity, Stanford University
Department of Communication, March 4, 2010.
“Measuring and Explaining Immigration Frames.” Invited Plenary Speaker, Conference
on Media Framing of Immigration, University of Oslo, Norway, December 4,
2009.
“Does Field Theory Help Explain Omnibus Media Cultural Production? A Comparison of
French and U.S. Television News Framing of Immigration.” Yale University
Department of Sociology fall speaker series. New Haven, CT, November 17,
2009.
“American and European Journalistic Traditions” Fulbright Institute Workshop on “Mass
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 8 of 18
Culture, the Media, and American Politics.” New York, July 2006, 2007, 2008,
2009, 2010.
“Measuring and Explaining Variation in Media Multivocality.” Paper presented at
Erasmus University (Rotterdam, Netherlands) Conference on “Classification in
the Arts and Media: The Impact of Globalization and Commercialization.” Byinvitation only conference. June 2008.
Visiting Professor, L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Institute of Political Studies), Toulouse,
France, March 2008 (also 2002, 2004, 2005).
“Cultural Form and the Logics of Fields.” Invited Speaker, University of Virginia
Department of Sociology Fall Colloquium Series. November 2007.
“After Habermas: The Revival of a Macro-Sociology of Media.” Special invited panel
on the “History of Sociology and the Mass Media.” American Sociological
Association annual conference, New York, August 2007.
“Field Theory in Contemporary Media and Journalism Research: Theoretical and
Methodological Issues.” Presented paper at invited workshop jointly sponsored by
the Norwegian Research Council and the École des hautes études en sciences
sociales / Maison des sciences de l’homme. Paris, February 2007.
“The U.S. Media and Immigration.” Lecture to visiting Mexican, South American, and
Spanish students from the Mass Media Executive Training Program (Mexico City,
Mexico). New York, July 2006.
“Immigration and U.S. Nationalism.” Paper presented at Russell Sage Foundation
Workshop. New York, May 2006.
“Journalism: public profession and late modernity.” Invited to present paper and
participate in Meeting of International Advisory Board, Academy of Finland
research project. Tampere, Finland, May 2006 (declined because in China at the
time).
“Macro-structural Models of Media and Society: Public Sphere(s), Arenas, Fields, and
Institutions.” Eastern Sociological Society annual conference, invited presenter in
special panel, “The Future of Media Sociology.” Boston, February 2006.
Visiting Professor, European Union-funded MediaCity Project, Bauhaus University,
Weimar, Germany. October-December 2005.
“Field theory and Comparative Media Research.” Series of lectures at MODINET (Centre
for Media and Democracy) conference, Copenhagen, and at Roskilde University,
Denmark. September 16, 20 and 22, 2004.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 9 of 18
Invited discussant for special panel on “Media Markets and Convergence,” American
Sociological Association annual conference. San Francisco, August 2004.
“Mapping Field Variation: Journalism in France and the United States.” Invited lecture
to Rutgers University School of Communication. New Brunswick, NJ, May
2004.
“Immigration Debates in the French Media: 1973, 1983 and 1991.” Presentation to the
NYU Institute of French Studies. Feb. 10, 2004.
“Toward a critical political economy of the media: challenging the conventional
wisdom.” Media Ecology Conference. Williams Lake, NY, November 2003.
“The Institutional Structuring of the Public Sphere: Political Debate and Social Protest in
the French and American News.” Invited lecture at the Institut für Interkulturelle
und Internationale Studien. Bremen, Germany, May 2002.
Invited lectures: USC Department of Sociology, Brandeis Department of Sociology,
Williams College Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of
California-San Diego Department of Communication, University of WashingtonSeattle Department of Communication, NYU Department of Culture and
Communication. Fall 2001-Spring 2002.
“Bourdieu and the Mass Media: New Approaches to Media Sociology.” Invited to
present at featured session on “Cultural Producers and Politics: The Sociology of
Pierre Bourdieu,” American Sociological Association annual conference.
Washington, D.C., August 2000.
“La recherche du profit et ses effets dans les médias américains: le cas du Los Angeles
Times et de l’Orange County Register.” Invited speaker for panel on the
“Responsibilities of Journalists,” Centre Universitaire de recherches
administratives et politiques de Picardie (CURAPP). Amiens, France, March
2000.
SELECTED CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP PAPERS
“Is the Internet ‘Europeanizing’ or ‘Americanizing’ Global Journalism? An Analysis of
the Form of Print and Online Newspapers in Denmark, France and the U.S.” 20
pp. paper accepted for presentation at the International Communication
Association annual conference, Singapore, June 24, 2010. Lead author; co-authors
Mark Blach-Ørsten (Roskilde University, Denmark); Matthew Powers (NYU);
Sandra Vera (Toulouse Institute of Politics, France); Ida Willig (Roskilde
University, Denmark).
“Transformation of U.S. Journalism: Long-Term Trends.” Invited discussant in panel
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 10 of 18
with presentations by Daniel Hallin and Charles Briggs, Raluca Cozma, and
Victor Pickard, ICA conference in Singapore, June 25, 2010.
“Framing the Immigration Debate in the U.S. National Media, 1974-2006.” Paper
presented to the Connecticut College Conference on Undocumented Hispanic
Immigration. New London, CT, October 16, 2009.
“Newspaper Form and Multivocal Content: A Comparison of the French and U.S.
Journalistic Fields.” Paper presented at International Communication Association
conference, Political Communication division, Montreal. May 2008.
“Public Relations in the Public Sphere: Habermas, Bourdieu, and the Question of Power.”
Paper presented at International Communication Association conference,
Philosophy of Communication division, Montreal. May 2008.
“Shaping the Immigration Debate: Multiperspectival News in the French and American
Press.” American Sociological Association annual conference, Session on
Sociology of Media. Montreal, August 2006.
“How States, Markets and Globalization Shape the News: The French and American
National Press, 1965-1997.” With Daniel C. Hallin. Political Communication
“Top Papers” Session, International Communication Association annual
conference. New York, May 2005.
“Public Relations in the Journalistic Field: Toward a Model for Cross-National
Comparative Research.” European Public Relations Education and Research
Association conference on Public Relations and the Public Sphere. Leipzig,
Germany, September 2004.
“Can Advertising Foster Radical Critique? The Case of 'Alternative Newsweeklies'”
Paper presented at American Sociological Association annual conference, Session
on Sociology of Media. San Francisco, August 2004.
“ ‘Field’ versus ‘Institutional’ Models of News Production.” Special panel on “New
Institutionalism and the News: Directions for Future Research.” Southern
Political Science Association annual conference. New Orleans, January 2004.
“Plus ça change … American and French political journalism, 1960s-1990s.” Presented at
conference, “Le journalisme comme profession: Regard international
comparé,” Université Rennes 1, Lannion (Brittany, France), May 2003.
“La structuration des espaces publics: Etude comparée du traitement de
l'immigration dans la presse américaine et française, 1973-1994.” Atelier
“Sociologie des journalistes et de leurs publics, l'accès différencié aux medias”
École des hautes études en sciences sociales. Paris, December 2002.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 11 of 18
“Globalization of Social Problems? Sexual Harassment and Immigration in the French
and American News.” Presented with Abigail C. Saguy. UCLA Center for
Comparative Social Analysis (November 2002) and American Sociological
Association annual meetings (August 2001).
“Manque de journalisme spécialisé sur l’immigration en Amérique: causes et
conséquences.” Séminaire: Les journalismes spécialisés, Institut Français de
Presse, Université Paris II. Paris, June 2001.
“The ‘Media Field’: A new research paradigm for the sociology of journalism.”
Mass Communication Division session. International Communication Association
annual conference. San Francisco, May 1999.
“Bringing the Media Back In to Analysis of Political Culture.”
Regular session on Political Culture, American Sociological Association annual
conference. San Francisco, August 1998.
“Constructing and Dismantling a French ‘Right to Difference’: A Social Constructionist
Re-interpretation.” Harvard University Conference on Politics and Identity
Formation in Contemporary Europe. Cambridge, Mass., April 1997.
SELECTED FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND HONORS
The Axel and Margaret Ax:Son Johnson Foundation (Sweden), Project on “Limits to Free
Journalism in Democratic Societies”, 2-year-grant, U.S. chief researcher
(interviews with publishers and editors at leading U.S. news organizations)
NYU Global Fellowship (for Paris-based research in 2009), Spring 2008
NYU Steinhardt Methodology Award (for online news media study), Spring 2008
NYU Humanities Council Grant, Spring 2007
Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany. “MediaCity” European Union Fellowship,
Visiting Professor/Scholar in Residence, Fall 2005
“Top Paper Award” (one of top three papers), Political Communication Division,
International Communication Association annual conference. Awarded for paper
co-authored with Daniel Hallin, “How States, Markets and Globalization Shape
the News: The French and American National Press, 1965-1997.”
New York, May 2005.
“Top Journal Article Nomination” (one of six articles nominated), Political
Communication Division, International Communication Association annual
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 12 of 18
conference. For article, “Bringing the Sociology of Media Back In” in Political
Communication 21 (2004). New York, May 2005.
NYU University Challenge Fund Grant, “Internet as Agent of ‘Europeanization’ or
‘Americanization’ of Global Journalism? A Cross-National Study of Online News
Media in Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” 20052007
NYU Steinhardt School Challenge Fund Grant, “Mediating Democracy: Public Debate in
the U.S. and European Press,” 2003-2004
Council for European Studies, Young Scholars Network Travel Grant, 2002
The American University of Paris, Faculty Research Grants, 2000, 2001
Dean’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, University of California-Berkeley, 1997-1998
Center for German and European Studies Comparative Immigration and Integration
Program, Dissertation Research Grants, University of California-Berkeley, 19971998
Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies Residential Fellowship, University of California-San
Diego, 1997-1998 (declined)
U.S. Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships, 1995, 1996-1997
Institute of International Studies Simpson Fellowship, University of California-Berkeley,
1996-1997
Chancellor’s Humanities Fellowship, University of California-Berkeley, 1995-1996
Paul Lazarsfeld Sociology Ph.D. Fellowship, Columbia University, 1992-1996 (declined)
Fellowship for Magazine Editing Workshop, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
May 1991
School of International Affairs Dean’s Fellowship and Chamberlain Fellowship,
Columbia University, 1991-1992
President of Iowa State University Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
1982-83. (Named “Top College Chapter” in the U.S. at national Society for
Professional Journalists convention)
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 13 of 18
SERVICE TO THE DISCIPLINE AND PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Editorial Board Member: International Journal of Press/Politics (2008-present)
Manuscript Reviewer for Journals (2004-present)
American Journal of Sociology
American Sociological Review
Comparative European Politics
Communication, Culture, and Critique
Communication Review
Critical Studies in Media Communication
Ethnography
French Politics, Culture & Society
International Journal of Press/Politics
Journal of Global Mass Communication
Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism
Journalism Studies
Poetics
Political Communication
Public Opinion Quarterly
Sociological Focus
Social Forces
Sociological Forum
Social Problems
Sociological Theory
Space and Society
Theory, Culture & Society
Manuscript and proposal reviewer for Book Publishers:
Cambridge University Press
Oxford University Press
Edinburgh University Press
Harvard University Press
McGraw-Hill
NYU Press
Peter Lang
Polity
Routledge
Rowman & Littlefield
Stanford University Press
External Evaluator of Funding Proposals:
British Academy
Israel Science Foundation
French National Research Association (ANR)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 14 of 18
Nominated to be secretary/treasurer for Culture Section of American Sociological
Association, on spring 2008 national ballot.
Chair and Organizer of Panel for Conference of Europeanists, Council for European
Studies: “The Limits of Americanization: European Journalists as Political
Actors.” Chicago, March 14-16, 2002.
Chief Organizer, Workshop on “Field theory and New Institutionalism: New Directions
in Research on Media and Politics.” Funded by France-Berkeley Fund and held on
the University of California-Berkeley campus, May 2000.
American Sociological Association, Sections on culture, political sociology, work and
organizations, comparative/historical, 1996International Communication Association, Divisions on journalism studies, political
communication, philosophy of communication, 1998Reviewer for conference papers, ICA 2008-2010 conferences
Associate editor, Journal of International Affairs, Columbia University, 1991-1992.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
“Explaining Differences in Political News: A Comparative Analysis across Four Western
Democracies and Four Decades.” Univerisität Zürich, Switzerland. Prof. Dr.
Frank Esser (Project Leader). Member of international advisory board, along
with Barbara Pfetsch, University of Hohenheim, Germany, and Daniel C. Hallin,
University of California-San Diego. spring 2007“Journalism: Public Profession and Late Modernity.” External advisor to project, funded
by Academy of Finland, led by Risto Kunelius, Professor, Dept. of Journalism and
Mass Communication, University of Tampere, Finland. spring 2005“The transnational migration of ideas: National Newspapers as Carriers of Migrating
Ideas across Transatlantic Space.” External advisor for research project led by
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Weßler, International University Bremen, Universität Bremen,
Germany, fall 2004-
TEACHING AND ADVISING
New York University
Graduate-level:
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 15 of 18
Comparative Media Systems and the Sociology of News (M.A./Ph.D.), spring 2004,
2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 (cross-listed with Sociology Department)
Ph.D. Seminar I: Advanced Theory in Media, Culture, and Communication, fall 2008,
2009
Ph.D. Seminar II: Advanced Theory in Culture and Communication, spring 2004
M.A. Core Seminar in Media, Culture, and Communication, fall 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008
Media Criticism II: Contemporary Social Theory and Media (M.A./ Ph.D.), spring 2003
Undergraduate-level:
Public Relations and the Public Sphere (senior seminar), fall 2003, 2008
Public Opinion (senior seminar), spring 2006
Immigration and the News (senior seminar), spring 2005
Mass Communication, Globalization and the Future (juniors-seniors), spring 2005, spring
2006, fall 2006, spring 2008
Summer Media Study Abroad Program in Hong Kong and Beijing, China
(graduate/undergraduate, May-June 2006)
The American University of Paris (all undergraduate: sophomores-seniors)
Introduction to Sociology
Media Sociology
Globalization and Media
Research Methods for Journalism
Public Relations and Society
Study Abroad Short Courses in London
University of California-Berkeley
Constructing Social Problems in the Public Sphere (undergraduate senior seminar)
In addition, served as Teaching Assistant (discussion section leader and grader) for the
following undergraduate courses:
Introduction to Sociology (freshmen-sophomores: Ann Swidler)
American Society (sophomores-seniors; Claude Fischer)
Social Change (sophomores-seniors; Stephen Stoltenberg)
Ethnic Politics (sophomores-seniors; Martin Sanchez-Jankowski)
Mass Media Institutions (juniors-seniors; Todd Gitlin, Thomas C. Leonard)
Mass Media Effects (juniors-seniors; Eric Gordy)
------Faculty sponsor (with Eric Klinenberg, Sociology) for NYU Media Council Graduate
Student Conference, “Field Theory and Actor-Network Theory,” Sept. 2009
Faculty Sponsor (with Eric Klinenberg, Sociology) of NYU Media Council Graduate
Student Conference, “Media Sociology: New Directions in Research.”
Participated in “methodology” faculty panel with Herbert Gans (Columbia) and
John B. Thompson (Cambridge), Nov. 2007
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 16 of 18
Organized and moderated special NYU mini-conference, “Taking Journalism Seriously:
Both Here and Abroad,” with Daniel C. Hallin, Barbie Zelizer, and Eric
Klinenberg, April 2006
Ph.D. Comprehensive Examinations, Developed and Administered Exam with Arvind
Rajagopal, Dept. of Culture and Communication, spring 2004, spring 2009
Moderator, Panel on “Spin: Media’s Role in Political Campaigns,” sponsored by
Undergraduate communications honor society Lambda Pi Eta. Other panelists
were Ashleigh Banfield (MSNBC), John Avlon (New York Sun), and Costas
Panagopoulos (director of NYU Campaign Management department).
October 2004
-----Member of Ph.D. dissertation committees
Matthew Powers (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication, chair, committee in
formation)
Sarah Stonbely (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication, chair, committee in
formation)
Frederico Bertagnoli (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication)
William Phillips (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication)
Marion Wrenn (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication)
Kathryn Kleppinger (NYU Comparative Literature / Institute of French Studies)
Jill Campaiola (Rutgers Communication Department)
Rasmus Nielsen (Columbia University, Communications Ph.D.)
Mitchell Davis (NYU Food Studies)
Elizabeth Hanauer (NYU International Education)
Examiner for Ph.D. Comprehensive Exams
Sarah Stonbely (NYU MCC)
Jason Stanley (NYU Sociology)
Gabriele Cosentino (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication, proposal defense)
Sam Howard-Spink (NYU Media, Culture, and Communication, proposal
defense)
Christopher Anderson (Columbia University, Communications Ph.D.)
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 17 of 18
SELECTED UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL, AND DEPARTMENT SERVICE
Ph.D. Committee, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication. Helped plan and
execute a comprehensive re-organization of doctoral courses, requirements, and
funding, 2008, 2003-4
Reviewer, Mitchell Leaska Research Dissertation Awards, fall 2009
Steinhardt Doctoral Affairs Committee, Sept. 2009 –
Steinhardt representative to NYU Libraries Committee, Sept. 2007 –
Judge for NYU University-wide Fulbright Fellowship Competition, 2006, 2008
New Faculty Search Committee (elected), Department of Media, Culture, and
Communication, fall 2006-spring 2007
Study Committee (elected), Department of Media, Culture, and Communication.
Charged with long-term planning and advice to and evaluation of the Dept. Chair,
spring 2004-spring 2006
Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Professions’ International Education
Faculty Search Committee, Outside Member, spring 2005
Undergraduate Committee, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication. Engaged
in comprehensive reorganization of courses and requirements, 2004-05.
NYU Center for Teaching Excellence, Department representative, 2004
Ad-hoc Committee for planning University of London (Goldsmith’s)-New York
University Conference, “Culture, Media and the Disappearance of Area Studies,”
January-April 2003
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Communications Director and campaign spokesperson, Re-election campaign of Rep.
Ted Weiss, New York, NY, spring-fall 1992.
Editorial assistant and writer, Columbia Journalism Review, spring 1991.
Senior Associate (Account executive and Creative director), Malchow & Company
(political campaign consulting), Washington, DC, 1990-1991.
Freelance journalist, In These Times, 1989-1990.
Rodney Benson, Curriculum vitae, page 18 of 18
Chief speechwriter / Special assistant, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin,
Washington, DC, 1985-1990.
Drafted all policy and political speeches, major floor statements, and op/ed
articles by Senator; traveled with Senator on official Senate and political
campaign trips; supervised communications staff responsible for drafting official
newsletters, weekly column for Iowa local press, etc.
Editorial and Fundraising Consultant (writer/editor), Independent Action (a progressive
political action committee), Washington, DC, 1985-90.
Assistant press secretary, U.S. Rep. Tom Harkin, Washington, DC, 1984.
Freelance reporter, Ames (IA) Tribune, 1982-83; City editor, Editorial page editor, and
staff writer, Iowa State Daily, 1981-83; Staff Reporter, Clarinda (IA) HeraldJournal, 1981.
Press aide, John Glenn for President, Des Moines, IA, 1983.