More about this faculty member
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Michael McCluskey
Assistant Professor
Contact Information
School of Communication
The Ohio State University
3072 Derby Hall
154 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1339
Tel: (614) 247-2754
Fax: (614) 292-2055
mccluskey.14@osu.edu
Qualifications
B.A., University of Washington
M.A., University of Washington
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Profile
My research interests in political communication revolve around activism and journalism, activists’ use of technology, entertainment television effects, and media and terrorism. The interrelationship of activist organizations, their communication strategies with political leaders, the public and journalists, and news coverage continues to be a topic of interest. An ongoing project is analyzing news content with activist group data, including organizational characteristics and their communication and lobbying strategies. This builds upon a previous project that compared environmental group characteristics and communication strategies with news coverage. Another ongoing project examines change and continuity of content on activist organization Web sites. I’ve previously conducted studies into anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle and analysis of protests in Wisconsin over 40 years.
Another current research area is Terror Management Theory, in which I have been studying how fictional entertainment programming triggers death-related thoughts, which lead to changes in political attitudes. An experiment found that subjects exposed to clips from the TV show “24” were more likely to support torture, with a paper from that study earning a top three faculty paper award in 2009 from the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication. I am also investigating ideas for future research on Media and Terrorism.
I am also involved in the journalism program, including membership on the Publications Committee and designing a new multi-media journalism course. I am on the editorial board of the journal Mass Communication & Society, and regularly review manuscripts for several journals and conferences. I was research co-chair in 2008-2009 for the Mass Communication & Society division of AEJMC.
I joined the Ohio State faculty in 2006 after two years at California State University, Fresno. My background includes 16-plus years as a print journalist, including stints as editor of a weekly newspaper, a sports writer/editor/columnist for a daily and a news beat reporter for a daily. I’ve also written numerous free-lance articles and helped write the memoirs of a Vietnam War veteran. But my best preparation for the ups and downs of life was driving a taxi for 18 months in Seattle, my hometown. Away from the office, you might find me working out, hiking or watching horse races.
Recent Publications
McCluskey, M.R., Stein, S.E., Boyle, M.P., & McLeod, D.M. (2009). Community structure and social protest: Influences on newspaper coverage. Mass Communication & Society, 12 (3), 353-371.
McCluskey, M. (2008). Activist Group Attributes and Their Influences on News Portrayal. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 85 (4), 769-784.
McCluskey, M. (2008). Reporter Beat and Content Differences in Environmental Stories. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 85 (1), 83-98.
Recent Presentations
Kim, Y.M. & McCluskey, M. (2009). Revisiting the “Myth of Outside Strategies”: Information Technology, Group Strategies, and News Media Coverage. Presented to American Political Science Association conference, Toronto, September 3-6, 2009.
McCluskey, M., Hmielowski, J. & Lichtenfeld, R. (2009). Bringing Media Effects into Terror Management Theory: Video Threats, Mortality Salience and Support for Torture. Presented to Communication Theory & Methodology Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference, Boston, August 4-8, 2009.
McCluskey, M. (2008). Web persistence, continuity and change on pro-white sites. Presented to Communication Technology Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference, Chicago, August 6-9, 2008.
Courses taught at OSU
101 History of Human Communication
500 Quantitative Reasoning for Journalists
597.01 Media and Terrorism
607 Media Law
841 Mass Communication and the Social System |