I am an associate professor of journalism in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University; a sports, features, and podcast editor at the Baltimore Watchdog; an independent podcast reporter, producer, and host; and a proud Seattle native who lives in Washington D.C. with my wife and two kids.
I have a Ph.D. in journalism studies from University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, a master’s degree in American Culture Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor of science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
My journalism and academic career has taken me from coast to coast with memorable stops in the Midwest.
Research
My research focuses primarily on self-presentation in broadcasting and podcasting, audience perceptions of news presenters, and relational trust in journalism. I also study how news organizations can assess their civic impact and promote their relevance.
My new book, Performing the News: Identity, Authority, and the Myth of Neutrality (Rutgers University Press), explores how journalists from historically marginalized groups have long felt pressure to conform when performing for audiences. Many speak with a flat, “neutral” accent, modify their delivery to hide distinctive vocal attributes, dress conventionally to appeal to the “average” viewer, and maintain a consistent appearance to avoid unwanted attention.
Their aim is what I refer to as performance neutrality—presentation that is deemed unobjectionable, reveals little about journalists’ social identity, and supposedly does not detract from their message. Increasingly, journalists are challenging restrictive, purportedly neutral forms of self-presentation. This book argues that performance neutrality is a myth that reinforces the status quo, limits on-air diversity, and hinders efforts to make newsrooms more inclusive. Through in-depth interviews with journalists in broadcasting and podcasting, and those who shape their performance, I suggest ways to make journalism more inclusive and representative of diverse audiences.
My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, Digital Journalism, International Journal of Communication, Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and Journal of Media Business Studies.
I have written news articles about my research, including how journalists define, measure and discuss their work’s impact, how the nonprofit news consortium behind the Panama Papers measures impact and what students know (and largely don’t know) about news personalization.
Teaching
MediaShift named me an innovative journalism educator for “progressive practices that educators can apply in their classrooms.” I have taught undergraduate courses such as Podcasting, Feature Writing, Multimedia Reporting Capstone, Sports Journalism, and Media Audiences & Analytics, as well as graduate courses such as Qualitative Research Methods and Media & Politics.
I teach students to take a solutions-oriented approach to multimedia storytelling by focusing on how people are responding to social problems. I took part in the inaugural Solutions Journalism Educators Academy, an initiative of the Catalyst Journalism Project at the University of Oregon.
Students in upper-level production courses team up to report on enterprise stories for The Baltimore Watchdog. In recent semesters, they have examined AI in society, life in your 20s, COVID-19, the role of technology in our lives, mental health on college campuses, and the future of work and higher education.
Writing & Podcasting
As a journalist for more than 15 years, I have covered media, higher education, health, business, politics, sports, the environment and the arts for publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Inside Higher Ed and The St. Louis Beacon (now St. Louis Public Radio). I created and produced podcasts at Inside Higher Ed and started a blog aimed at young readers while at the St. Louis Beacon. I hold certificates in data-driven and multimedia journalism.
In recent years, I have taken up podcasting. From 2020-2022, I hosted and produced a podcast called Areas of Agreement that examines the urban-rural divide in the United States. The series is available anywhere you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor, PRX Exchange, America’s Talking Network, and Urban-Rural Action.
Listen to a podcast I produced for PRX Exchange and the Transom Traveling Workshop in Seattle about a nature-based preschool, and two podcasts about COVID-19: how artists continue to collaborate online and how positive psychology can help us during the pandemic.
Elia Powers 