About the Authors

JENNINGS BRYANT (P.h.D., Indiana University, 1974) is Professor of Communication, holder of the Reagan Senior Endowed Chair of Broadcasting, and Director of the Institute for Communication Research at the University of Alabama. He received the university's Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award for 2000 and is President-Elect of the International Communication Association.

Dr. Bryant has authored more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals, has written more than 80 chapters published in edited scholarly books, and has delivered more than 200 papers at conventions of national and international professional associations. Twenty-three of his articles or papers have received awards. The most recent books authored or edited by Dr. Bryant include Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (1994), Introduction to Media Communication, 4th ed. (1995), Reinventing Media (1996), Introduction to Media Communication, 5th ed. (1998), Human Communication Theory, 2nd ed. (2000), and Television and the American Family, 2nd ed. (2001).

In addition to his own research and writing, Dr. Bryant has been actively involved in editing and promoting the work of other scholars. He has served on the editorial boards of eleven scholarly journals, currently holds editorial board appointments on eight scholarly journals, and is founding co-editor of the journal Media Psychology. Dr. Bryant also serves as: Co-Editor of a series of scholarly books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (LEA), Series Editor for LEA's Communication Textbook Series, and Series Editor of LEA's list of Serial Publications in Communications.

SUSAN THOMPSON (MA, University of Alabama, 1995) is a doctoral candidate in communication with a specialization in media history at the School of Communication and Information Sciences, University of Alabama. She is presently completing her dissertation, "The Antebellum Penny Press."

For several years, Thompson was the recipient of a doctoral scholarship sponsored by the Southern Progress Corporation. She has received several awards while completing her doctoral studies, including the college's Outstanding Graduate P.h.D. Research Assistant Award in 1997 and the Knox Hagood Award as outstanding graduate student for 1999. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Tau Alpha Honor Societies.

Thompson has authored or co-authored several books, including Reinventing Media (1996) and Introduction to Media Communication, 5th ed. (1998). She has also authored several book chapters related to media history. She has presented papers at national and international conferences.