Pamela J. Shoemaker (born October 25, 1950) is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and

gatekeeping A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status. Gatekeepers assess who is "in or out", in the classic words of manage ...

theorist. From 1994 until her retirement in 2015, Shoemaker was the John Ben Snow Professor, an endowed research chair, in the

S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. She was previously the director of the School of Journalism at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and earlier was on the faculty of the Department of Journalism at The

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Shoemaker holds an M.S. in

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and a B.S.J. in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

from the

E. W. Scripps School of Journalism The E. W. Scripps School of Journalism is part of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. Founded in 1924, the school has been recognized by The Associated Press and U.S. News & World Report for excellence in instruction and re ...

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

(1972) and was named the L.J. Hortin Distinguished Alumna in 2006. In 2015 she received the Paul J. Deutschmann award for excellent research. She holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication, where she received the Harold L. Nelson award in 2017 for distinguished contribution to journalism and mass communication education. Since 1997, Shoemaker has been

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

(with Michael E. Roloff,

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

) of ''Communication Research''. Earlier she was associate editor of ''

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly ''Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of communication and journalism. The editor-in-chief is Daniela Dimitrova (Iowa State University). The journal was established in 1924 as the ' ...

'' and has served on the editorial boards of several other

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

Selected publications

*''Gatekeeping Theory'' (with T. Vos, 2009) *''News Around the World: Practitioners, Content, and the Public'' (with A. Cohen, 2006) *''How to Build Social Science Theories'' (with J. Tankard and D. Lasorsa, 2004) *''Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content'' (with S. Reese, 1996) *''Gatekeeping'' (1991) *''Communication Campaigns About Drugs: Government, Media, and the Public'' (1989) *''Building a Theory of News Content'' (Journalism Monograph, 1987)

References

Communication theorists Syracuse University faculty 1951 births Living people University of Texas at Austin faculty Ohio State University faculty Ohio University alumni {{US-academic-bio-stub University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni