Email: rikray2@illinois.edu RESEARCH INTERESTS I primarily study how audiences take shape on digital platforms and the ways in which platform logics influence audience behavior. My interest in research design and methodology has also led to collaborations across topical domains such as political communication, public opinion, journalism studies, etc. Recent Publications/Presentations Ray, R., Bhalla, S., & Taneja, […]
March 4, 2021 Update April 5, 2021: The recording of this event is now available to watch on YouTube: The College of Media will celebrate the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media with a virtual kick-off event on Wednesday, March 31, at 7-8 p.m. (CT). Leslie (Miller) Frank, an Emmy award-winning […]
March 4, 2021 | Marissa Plescia, Communications and Marketing Intern Patrick Burke doesn’t usually like waking up to a work text at 5 a.m. … unless it’s saying that his commercials got the #1 and #2 spots for the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter poll. “If I’m gonna get woken up to a work […]
Sela Sar, associate professor of advertising and director of the Institute of Communications Research, has been elected president-elect of the American Academy of Advertising. He joins the executive committee on March 19 at the AAA annual conference, and will become president of AAA in March 2022. Sar previously served as vice president of AAA in […]
Peruvian visual journalist Elio Leturia (MS ’92, journalism) published the bilingual book Aguijón 30 Años | Aguijón 30 Years (ISBN: 978-1-7923-1695-1) that displays in 146 pages, in Spanish and English, the history of Aguijón Theater, the oldest Latino theater company in Chicago. It documents in eight chapters and in more than 300 photographs the trajectory of […]
Sierra Reed, a junior in advertising, first joined TikTok in August 2019 for fun. Little did she know she’d go viral doing modern twists on Romeo and Juliet, and eventually become an influencer on the video-based social media platform. She first started gaining a following in November 2019. She posted a video and went […]
Anita Say Chan, associate professor in the Department of Media & Cinema Studies and at the iSchool, will share her expertise with campus as the Provost Fellow for International Affairs and Global Strategies for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Provost Fellows Program provides selected Illinois faculty with academic leadership experience in key campus administrative roles. […]
Investigative correspondent Cheryl W. Thompson (MS ’84, journalism) will lead NPR’s Station Investigations Team, a new investigative unit that will work with regional newsrooms and topic teams to support local journalism. The team is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Thompson is an award-winning investigative reporter and 22-year veteran of The Washington Post. She is also president […]
As an editor, Doug Balz (BS ’66, MS ’68, journalism) knew how to get the best from writers. In 1980, he advised one journalist stalled while writing, “When in doubt, put the reader on the road. Learn from the best. If the journey motif was good enough for Homer….” That encouragement proved valuable to Madeleine […]
David Schulman (MS ’95, journalism) was an audio producer and sound designer for a new podcast audio drama for ages 9 and up called Live from Mount Olympus. The podcast, launching February 2, features Tony-winning actor André De Shields (Hadestown, The Wiz, Ratatouille The Musical) as Hermes, along with other members of the Tony-winning TEAM that did Hadestown, in a contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of […]