Faculty bio 

Journalism professor Whitney Phillips studies where political communication, interpersonal communication, and information dysfunction collide. Her research shows that, while we need to be plugged into the news cycle, we also need to consider issues of citizen wellbeing and mental health, since nothing shuts down engaged citizenship faster than stress and overwhelm. Equally critical is interpersonal communication. According to her research, we need to focus on strategies for having difficult conversations about issues that make us angry and people we fundamentally disagree with. 

Recent Media:
Disability advocates fear backlash, discrimination after Trump’s FAA comments (The Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2025)
UnitedHealthcare shooting memes speak to anger at the health care system and CEO pay (Teen Vogue, Dec. 11, 2024)
How Elon Musk became ‘prophet-in-chief’ of tech's Trump-leaning conservatism (Religious News Service, Dec. 3, 2024)
Alex Jones lost Infowars but succeeded in ushering in a new era of right-wing media (NBC News, Nov. 15, 2024)
True crime’s popularity brings real change for defendants and society. It’s not all good (Associated Press, Nov. 2, 2024) 
How Trump’s pet-eating claim became a meme for right and left alike (The Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2024)
How 9/11 became Gen Z's favorite internet meme, joke (Business Insider, Sept. 11, 2024)
Left-wing misinformation is having a moment (The New York Times, Sept. 3, 2024)
A true millennial, JD Vance posted his whole life — and his dog’s — online (The Washington Post, Aug. 2, 2024)
Welcome to the Weird Era (Wired, Aug. 2, 2024)
Repeating ourselves (Columbia Journalism Review, June 10, 2024)
Trump’s New York trial: Where Page Six meets ‘12 Angry Men’ (The New York Times, May 18, 2024)
Emotional support platform 7 Cups beset by trolls (Mashable, March 26, 2024)
Conspiracies tagged #kategate grow despite Kensington Palace video (The Guardian, March 25, 2024)
Kate Middleton, Britney Spears and the online trolls doubting their existence (The New York Times, March 20, 2024)
As Trump support merges with Christian nationalism, experts warn of extremist risks (USA Today, March 7, 2024)
An essential guide for mindful posting (The Markup, Feb. 17, 2024)
How Instagram cat influencers are helping break news in Gaza (The Daily Beast, Dec. 12, 2023)
Substack has a Nazi problem (The Atlantic, Nov. 28, 2023)
Activation and alienation over Israel-Hamas war fueled by ‘panic machines’ in our pockets (The Oregonian, Nov. 17, 2023)
Meet Sister Cindy, the Inspiration For TikTok’s Pro-Pegging Summer Jam (Rolling Stone, July 6, 2023)
The dangerous demonology of Ron DeSantis (MSNBC, June 18, 2023)
Why Washington is crazy for Chinese balloons and UFOs (Roll Call, Feb. 16, 2023)
How a viral teen app became the center of a sex trafficking conspiracy (The Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2022)
How to cope with political panic (NBC News, Nov. 8, 2022)
The term “White Christian nationalism” is on the rise. Here’s what journalists should know about using it (NiemanLab, Nov. 7, 2022)
Satanic panic is making a comeback, fueled by QAnon believers and GOP influencers (NBC News, Sept. 14, 2022)
January 6, Trump and the rise of America's dangerous 'shadow gospel' (NBC News, July 21, 2022)
Before massacre, Uvalde gunman frequently threatened teen girls online (Texas Tribune, May 28, 2022)