Randall S. Sumpter

Professor Emeritus

Areas of Speciality

Journalism & Media Practices

Contact

r-sumpter@tamu.edu

Professional Links

Introduction

My research focuses on the evolution of journalistic work routines from 1875 to the present day. A particular interest is how various social forces and institutions help shape these routines and how the resulting mass messages, in turn, shape our society and our perception of the social world.

Bio

My research focuses on the evolution of journalistic work routines from 1875 to the present day. It seeks answers to three questions: How do various social forces and institutions shape these routines over time? How do the resulting mass messages, in turn, shape our society and our perception of the social world? Who, at any one time, is included and excluded in this constructed reality? My work as a news professional during a seventeen-year period before I entered the academy has informed this research agenda. The results have been published in a variety of journals including American Journalism, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journalism History, Science Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and a book, Before Journalism Schools: How Gilded Age Reporters Learned the Rules, with the University of Missouri Press.

Teaching Philosophy:
I believe my task as a university professor encompasses more than teaching my students the material specified in a course syllabus. My duties also include preparing my students to be productive members of a more diverse society by linking course material, discussions, and projects to the realities that exist outside of the classroom.

Courses Taught

COMM 360: Cultural History of the Media
COMM 663: Seminar in Telecommunications and Media Studies: Organizational Sociology
COMM 350: Theories of Media Communication
COMM 460: Communication and Contemporary Issues—Media and Society
COMM 345: Media Industries
COMM 698: Special Topics in Media Sociology
JOUR 490: Journalism as a Profession
JOUR 409: History of the Mass Media
JOUR 304: Editing for Mass Media
JOUR 620: Research Methods in Science and Technology Journalism
JOUR 408: Mass Media and Public Opinion
JOUR 310: Computer-Assisted Reporting

Representative Publications

Sumpter, R. S. (2015). “‘Girl Reporter’: Elizabeth L. Banks and the ‘Stunt’ Genre.” American Journalism, 32(1), 1-18.
Sumpter, R. S. (2013). “Practical Reporting”: Late Nineteenth Century Journalistic Standards and Rule-Breaking. American Journalism, 30(1), 44-64.
Sumpter, R. S., & Rothenbuhler, E. (2011). “Operation Matthew”: The Cold War comes to Top 40. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 55(1), 1-18.
Sumpter, R. S. (2010). Learning the “outsider” profession: Serial advice columns in The Journalist. American Journalism, 27(3), 7-26.
Sumpter, R. S. (2009). Core knowledge: Early reporting textbooks and the formation of professional identity. Journalism History, 35(1), 42-51.
Sumpter, R. S., & *Garner, J. T. (2007). Telling the Columbia story: Source selection in news accounts of a shuttle accident. Science Communication, 28(4), 455-475.
Sumpter, R. S., & *Braddock, M. A. (2002). Source use in a “news disaster” account: A content analysis of Voter News Service stories. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 79(3), 539-558.
Sumpter, R. S. (2000). Daily newspaper editors’ audience construction routines: A case study. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 17(3), 335-347.