About the Presentation:
The local news industry is in crisis at the same time that politics is more polarized than ever. In this talk, Darr will discuss his research showing how stronger local news can push back on polarization, make government work better, and adapt to today’s media environment.
About our Speaker:
Joshua P. Darr joined the Newhouse School in Fall 2023 as an associate professor, teaching classes in political communication.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Darr was the associate dean of research and strategic initiatives and associate professor at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University from 2015-23, where he taught classes in political communication research, media and policy and campaigns and elections.
Professor Darr’s research focuses on campaign strategy, political knowledge, partisan polarization and local news. In their 2021 book, "Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization" (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Darr and co-authors Matthew Hitt and Johanna Dunaway studied what happened when a local newspaper dropped national opinion coverage, finding less polarization and more discussion of state and local issues in the resulting space.
In 2022, Darr received the prestigious Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for his project, “Partnering with Local News to Reduce Polarization,” which investigates the ways that newsrooms can earn back trust and reduce political polarization through their coverage of local and national politics.
He also received the Top Interactive Paper Award from the Political Communication Division of the International Communication Association in 2022 (with Jessica Feezell, Kathleen Searles, John Wagner, Ray Pingree, Mingxiao Sui, and Brian Watson) and the Lynda Lee Kaid Award for the best published article in political communication from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (with Matthew Hitt and Johanna Dunaway).
Darr earned a Ph.D. in political science in 2015 and an M.A. in political science in 2011 from the University of Pennsylvania. He also received a B.A. in political science from Boston College in 2009.