McGannon Communication Research Center

Staff and Affliated Researchers

The Donald McGannon Communication Research Center was founded in 1986 and is named in memory of Donald H. McGannon, former CEO of Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation (Group W) and a Fordham College graduate, Class of 1940. The mission of the Center is to conduct, support, reward, and disseminate research in the fields of communications policy and ethics, with a particular emphasis on research that addresses the public interest dimensions of media performance. In pursuit of this mission, the Center serves as a resource and forum for scholars, policymakers, industry groups, and public interest organizations.

McGannon Center Staff

Philip M. Napoli (Ph.D., Northwestern University), Director
Dr. Napoli is Professor of Communications & Media Management in the Fordham University Schools of Business. His research focuses on media institutions and media policy. He is the author of the books Audience Economics: Media Institutions and the Audience Marketplace (Columbia University Press, 2003) and Foundations of Communications Policy: Principles and Process in the Regulation of Electronic Media (Hampton Press, 2001) and the editor of Media Diversity and Localism: Meaning and Metrics (Erlbaum, 2007). His latest book, Audience Evolution: New Technologies and the Transformation of Media Audiences, is forthcoming from Columbia University Press. His work has been published in academic journals such as Telecommunications Policy, Communication Law & Policy, the Journal of Communication, the Policy Studies Journal, the Federal Communications Law Journal, and the Harvard International Journal of Press Politics.

Dr. Napoli's work has been supported by organizations such as the Ford Foundation, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Phoebe Haas Charitable Trust, the Benton Foundation, and the National Association of Television Programming Executives. He has testified before Congress, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the Federal Communications Commission on media policy issues, and has been interviewed in a number of media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the NBC Nightly News, National Public Radio, the Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, and Rolling Stone. Dr. Napoli previously held academic appointments at Rutgers University and Boston University. [pnapoli@fordham.edu ] [Vita]

Everett C. Parker (L.H.D., Fordham University), Senior Research Associate
Dr. Everett Parker is an emeritus faculty member in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. He came to Fordham in1983, after retiring from his position as Director of the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ (UCC), an organization which he founded in 1954. At the UCC, Dr. Parker was instrumental in efforts to improve broadcasters' public interest service and spearheaded a successful effort in the 1960s to force the Federal Comunications Commission to consider the input of citizens and public interest groups in the broadcast license renewal process -- a right established in the famous Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ vs. FCC decision (359 F.2d 994, D.C. Cir. 1966).

Everett Parker has received numerous awards for his work in the area of media and the public interest, including the Pioneer Award from the World Association for Christian Communications, the Public Service Award from Black Citizens for Fair Media, and the Roman Catholic Broadcasters Gabriel Award for Public Service. Dr. Parker continues to work with a number of media and public interest organizations, including the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council and the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media. His books include Religious Radio: What to Do and How (Harper's, 1948, 1961) and The Television-Radio Audience and Religion (Harper's, 1955). He has previously taught at Yale Divinity School.

James A. Capo, (Ph.D., University of Chicago), Senior Research Associate
James Capo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University. Dr. Capo directs the Center's Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Policy Research. Dr. Capo has previously taught in the SUNY system and has directed academic programs as Oxford University. He has written for scholarly journals and corporate publications, as well as produced radio and TV shows. His recent work focuses on public interest issues in the information infrastructure. [capo@fordham.edu]

Margot Hardenbergh (Ph.D., New York University), Research Fellow
Dr. Hardenbergh is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University. She is the principal interview for the McGannon Center's ongoing TV Oral History Project. Dr. Hardenbergh began her career in public affairs television at KERA-TV, Dallas and worked for Capital Cities Communications in NYC, and at Roundel Productions in London, England.

She began her teaching career at the University of Bridgeport and has taught at Yale University, University of New Haven, University of Maine, Eastern Connecticut State University and Marist College. Shehas written a number of book chapters about broadcasting and women in broadcasting and most recently co-authored the Media Empowerment Manual for the United Church of Christ. She is currently on the board of the Broadcast Education Association, representing District 1, serves on the board of her local public access organization, BCTV, Inc. and is currently producing a documentary about slavery in New England. [hardenbergh@fordham.edu]

Mark Cooper (Ph.D., Yale University), Affiliated Scholar
Dr. Cooper is Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America, where he has responsibility for energy, telecommunications, and economic policy analysis. Dr. Cooper works with the McGannon Center on research projects related to the regulations and policies surrounding media ownership in the United States. His books include Media Ownership and Democracy in the Digital Information Age (2003) and Cable Mergers and Monopolies (2002). [MarkCooper@aol.com]

Minna Aslama (Ph.D., University of Helsinki), Affiliated Scholar/Visiting Research Fellow (2009/10)
Dr. Aslama was the McGannon Center's inaugural Visiting Research Fellow. She returns to the Center for the 2009-2010 academic year after spending a year as a Program Officer in the Social Science Research Council's Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere Program. She has conducted research for the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, and recently took part in a large scale research project assessing the state of communications research around the world. In her academic career, Dr. Aslama has had the opportunity to travel extensively, and she has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Thomas E. and Margaret Brittingham Scholar at the University of Wisconsin (Madison). She has worked as a researcher for the Finnish Broadcasting Company and holds a Master of Science in Business Administration from the Helsinki School of Economics. You can read her new blog on media issues here. [minna.aslama@helsinki.fi]

Kim McCann (Ph.D., Bowling Green State University), Visiting Research Fellow (2009/10)
Dr. McCann comes to the McGannon Center after spending the 2008-2009 academic year as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University. She earned her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University in 2007. Her dissertation was titled Public Interest and Media Diversity: Market Concentration and Regulation. Her research focuses on the democratic performance of media. She has published a number book chapters and journal articles, in publications such as the International Journal of Advertising. Her current research examines the impact of convergence on communications policymaking.

Christina Dunbar-Hester (Ph.D., Cornell University), Affiliated Scholar
Christina recently received her Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University. Her dissertation was an ethnography of contemporary media activism in the U.S., focusing on activism surrounding Low Power FM radio. Her research interests include social studies of technology; media activism and technology; sociology of work; and aurality/sound studies. She recently completed a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. [c.dunbarhester@gmail.com]

Taryn Bensky, Graduate Assistant
Taryn is an M.A. student in Fordham's Public Communication graduate program. Prior to coming to Fordham, she graduated from Rutgers University with undergraduate degrees in Journalism & Media Studies and Art History, and a minor in English LIterature. She comes to Fordham with a journalism background, having worked for publications such as Harper's Bazaar and Unique Homes, and contributed to other publications. Her research interests include gender, class, race, and media, media and politics, and communication law. [mcgctr@fordham.edu]