Biography

Fred Vultee (PhD, University of Missouri) is an associate professor in the journalism area of the Department of Communication. He teaches news editing, political communication, media ethics and law, and content analysis, among other courses. His research looks at the evolution of media routines and and media content and effects, particularly how perceptions of national and societal security are created and maintained. His research appears in such journals as Journalism Studies; Media, War & Conflict; the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters; and the Journal of Media Ethics.
Before attending graduate school at the University of Missouri, Dr. Vultee was an editor at newspapers for 25 years.

Area of Expertise

I specialize in media framing, content analysis and news practice.

Degrees and Certifications

PhD, 2007, University of Missouri (journalism)
MA, 2004, University of Missouri (journalism)
BA, 1977, UNiversity of North Carolina (radio-TV-film/journalism)

Primary Research Interest

My main area of interest is media framing: both the way frames occur as organizing or storytelling devices in media accounts and the way frames affect media audiences. I study media content, the routines and rules that shape that content, and the audience attitudes that different kinds of content produce.

Recent Publications

Vultee, F. (2023). A Media Framing Approach to Securitization: Storytelling in Conflict, Crisis and Threat. Routledge Studies in Media, Communication and Politics. ISBN: 9781138603066
Sweet-Cushman, J., Vultee, F., Prough, E. and Herring, M. (2022). Prone to Agreement: Does Context Matter for Men and Women in Political Discussions? Journal of Women, Politics and Policy.
Vultee, F. (2021). Ruin Porn and Virtue Porn: Licensing how we talk about perceptions of urban decay. The Routledge Companion to Media and Poverty. (Ed.: Sandra L. Borden.) ISBN: 9780367260729
Vultee, F., Burgess, G.S., Frazier, D., and Mesmer, K. (2020). Here’s what to know about clickbait: Effects of image, headline and processing choices on audience attitudes. Journalism Practice.
Vultee, F. (2020). Potato chips, botulism and carbon monoxide: The lying-bullshitting distinction in “fake news.” In Fake News! Misinformation in the media, LSU Press. (Ed: Josh Grimm.) ISBN: 9780807172001
Vultee, F. and Wilkins, L. (2020). What journalists are owed: How structures, systems and audiences enable news work today. London: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0367437909
Vultee, F. (2015). Audience perceptions of editing quality: Assessing traditional news routines in the digital age. Digital Journalism, 3(6), 832-849.

 

Courses Taught

Com3210, news editing: An undergraduate skills course that introduces students to the roles editors play in news content, from grammar to gatekeeping to graphics and on into ethics.
Com5710, media ethics and law: An undergraduate/graduate course that looks at the ethics of media practice and the legal system in which US media operate
Com5700, political reporting: An undergraduate/graduate course that emphasizes understanding and reporting events and processes that help people make sense of their political lives
Com7520, mass communication theory: An introduction to the theories that inform studies of mass media and mass communication.
Com7580, content analysis: A graduate seminar in the systematic examination of media content-- or any other artifacts of human communication that we can sample, catalog and measure.
Com7700, mass media and political communication: A graduate seminar in the roles played by traditional and social media in the policial process.