About me

This fall, I will begin a job as an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Memphis. I am currently finishing up my doctoral work at the Missouri School of Journalism, which includes an in-depth case study of a metropolitan daily newspaper’s efforts to grapple with changes to its newsroom structure, culture, and daily routines – a project which involves spending two months in the newsroom making observations and conducting interviews with staff of all levels and departments.

Before coming to Mizzou, I managed the traveling curriculum program of the Committee of Concerned Journalists for three years, going to newspapers of all sizes across the United States to discuss how journalists could do a better job of upholding their values in their daily work. Our workshops emphasized critical thinking over lecture and were based on the principles articulated in the book Elements of Journalism by CCJ Chairmen Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. This experience was invaluable and gave me a bird’s eye view of what is happening in the newspaper industry today, and I benefited greatly from working closely with some of the best and most experienced journalists in the world.

I’ve also spent time working in the newsroom myself, as a reporter for the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram in Wisconsin, an intern at the Philadelphia Inquirer, an associate newsletter editor covering policy developments on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and, most recently, as an assistant city editor at the Columbia Missourian. I got my MA in communication from the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and my BA in journalism and biological aspects of conservation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the state where I was born and raised.

When I’m not writing about, researching or teaching journalism, I’m often running with my dog Sam, watching Packer football, or enjoying a domestic macrobrew with my friends, from whom I’ve learned just as much as I ever have in school.

You can email me at carrielisabrown@gmail.com.