Nicole Hemmer
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Nicole Hemmer is an American
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
. She is an is an associate professor of history and director of the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the Study of the Presidency at Vanderbilt University. She specializes in the history of conservative media in the United States from the 1940s to the present, and the role of right-wing media in American electoral politics. She is particularly involved in public communication that aims to provide historical context for contemporary events in American politics. Hemmer has been a regular columnist or an editor of historical series at print media outlets like ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', '' U.S. News & World Report'',
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
'', and she hosts the American history podcasts ''Past Present'' and ''This Day in Esoteric Political History''.


Education and academic positions

Hemmer is from
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. She attended Marian University in Indianapolis, graduating with a BA in 2001 with a major in psychology and a minor in political science. She then earned an MA in 2005, an MPhil in 2006, and a PhD in 2010, all in U.S. history from the Department of History at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Her dissertation was entitled ''Messengers of the Right: Media and the Modern Conservative Movement'', and was supervised by
Alan Brinkley Alan Brinkley (June 2, 1949 – June 16, 2019) was an American political historian who taught for over 20 years at Columbia University. He was the Allan Nevins Professor of History until his death. From 2003 to 2009, he was University Provost. ...
. From 2009 to 2011, Hemmer was an adjunct lecturer at
Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
in Indiana, and in 2011 she became a postdoctoral researcher at the United States Studies Centre at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
. In 2012, she joined the faculty at the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
, and in 2015 joined The
Miller Center of Public Affairs The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in United States presidential scholarship, public policy, and political history. History The Miller Center was founded in 1975 through the philanthrop ...
at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
. She subsequently moved to the Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics at Columbia University becoming a scholar with the Obama Presidency Oral History Project there.


Research

In 2016, Hemmer published the book ''Messengers of the Right: Conservative media and the transformation of American politics'', which arose from her PhD dissertation. The book traces the development of right-wing media in the United States from its origins in 1940s and 1950s periodicals like ''
Human Events ''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013. ''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the U ...
'' and ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' and radio programs like
Clarence Manion Clarence E. "Pat" Manion (July 7, 1896 – July 29, 1979) was an American lawyer and conservative radio talk show host who was dean of Notre Dame Law School. from 1941 to 1952 He hosted the radio show ''Manion Forum'' which later aired on televisio ...
's ''Forum of Opinion'', through to contemporary conservative media like ''
The Rush Limbaugh Show ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' is an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh. Since its nationally syndicated premiere in 1988, ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' became the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. At its ...
'' and
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
. ''Messengers of the Right'' is primarily structured around three figures: the mid-century right wing media broadcaster Clarence Manion, the publisher
Henry Regnery Henry Regnery (1912–1996) was a conservative American publisher who founded the newspaper ''Human Events'' (1944) and the Henry Regnery Company (1947) and published Russell Kirk's ''The Conservative Mind'' (1953). Jeffrey O. Nelson, 'Henry Regn ...
, and the columnist
William A. Rusher William Allen Rusher (July 19, 1923 – April 16, 2011) was an American lawyer, author, activist, and conservative columnist. He was one of the founders of the conservative movement and was one of its most prominent spokesmen for thirty years as ...
; Hemmer was credited with writing the first detailed treatment of Manion, and one of the first on Regnery. The development of this media landscape is situated in the context of conflicts within the Republican Party. In particular, conservative media and conservative politicians did not always have a close relationship in America, and ''Messengers of the right'' is concerned with the development of that relationship to the point that media figures like
Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
, Bill O'Reilly, and
Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...
can often be understood as acting collaboratively with politicians like Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. By studying the development of right-wing media from the promoters of the original America First movement and the supporters of Barry Goldwater through to conventional right-wing media outlets in contemporary America, Hemmer's work contextualized the ascent of far-right nationalist media figures like
Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...
and the outlet ''
Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentary ...
'' around the time of the
2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
. Hemmer also studies the relationship of these media outlets to the truth, demonstrating that some early right-wing outlets were openly motivated by a belief that objectivity is not possible in political news media, and that therefore ideologically driven media is justified in explicitly pursuing partisan electoral goals. Hemmer's research on conservative media and its role in electoral politics has been reviewed or cited in news outlets like
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, '' Vox'', ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', and ''
The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...
''.


Public communication

Hemmer has been a regular host of several podcast series. Since 2015, Hemmer has hosted the weekly podcast ''Past Present'' with the historians Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young, which discusses recent American political events in the context of American political history. In 2020, she launched the
Radiotopia Radiotopia is a podcast network founded by '' 99% Invisible'' host Roman Mars and run by the Public Radio Exchange. The network is organized as a collective of some two dozen shows whose producers have complete artistic control over their work. ...
podcast ''This Day in Esoteric Political History'' together with Jody Avirgan, who is the former host of the ''
FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
'' elections podcast. Each episode of ''This Day in Esoteric Political History'' describes an event that happened on the same day of the year as that episode, focusing on events that might inform the current moment. Hemmer also created a 6-part podcast called ''A12'', which focused on the
Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, ...
and its historical context. Hemmer has also been a regular history contributor to print media outlets. She co-founded the "Made By History" series at ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and served as one of two editors-in-chief of the series. From 2013 to 2018, she wrote a weekly column for the '' U.S. News & World Report''. Since 2014, she has been a syndicated columnist at ''The Age''.


Selected works

*''Past Present'' podcast (2015–) *''Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics'' (2016) *''This Day in Esoteric Political History'' podcast (2020–) *''Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics in the 1990s'' (2022)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemmer, Nicole American women social scientists 21st-century American women writers Living people 21st-century American historians Historians from Indiana Historians of the United States Columbia University alumni Marian University (Indiana) alumni Columbia University faculty University of Miami faculty University of Virginia faculty Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics Historians from Florida