About

Ford Risley is a Distinguished Professor in the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University. He served as associate dean for undergraduate and graduate education from 2014 to 2020 and was the head of the Department of Journalism from 2002 to 2014. His teaching areas include mass media history, mass communication law, and American journalism. Risley's research centers on mass media history, with a particular focus on Civil War-era journalism. He has authored or edited four books, including 'Dear Courier: The Civil War Correspondence of Editor Melvin Dwinell' and 'Abolition and the Press: The Moral Struggle Against Slavery,' the latter of which won the American Journalism Historians Association's award for the best book on media history. He has also published articles, essays, and reviews in various scholarly journals. Prior to his academic career, he spent 12 years as a newspaper reporter and freelance writer. Risley holds a B.A. from Auburn University, an M.A. from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida.

Research topics

• Political Science

Selected publications

• The Albany Patriot, 1861-1865: Struggling to Publish and Struggling to Remain Optimistic

  2023-06-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The Albany Patriot’s creed in 1864 was “Our Country’s Independence,” but a more appropriate one probably would have been: “Struggling to Publish and Struggling to Remain Optimistic.” With the January 21, 1864 issue McCarthy announced he had sold the Patriot to Fears, a former resident of Albany who had moved to Macon. The spring brought new confidence in the outcome of the war — even as the Union Army posed a grave threat to Georgia. News of the war unquestionably dominated the pages of the Patriot. As the fighting in the state dragged on, the Patriot’s sources for news became less and less reliable. The Patriot continued publishing until 1866 when it closed for good. Seen from a late twentieth century viewpoint, the disparity between what appeared on the pages of the Patriot and what was taking place on the war’s battlefields is obvious.

  PublisherDOI

• Endnotes

  American Journalism · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Political Science
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• Endnotes

  American Journalism · 2019-07-03

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Editor’s Note

  American Journalism · 2019-10-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Editor’s Note

  American Journalism · 2019-04-03

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Editor’s Note

  American Journalism · 2019-07-03

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Thanks to Reviewers

  American Journalism · 2019-10-02

  article1st authorCorresponding

  We extend our appreciation to the peer reviewers who contributed manuscript reviews to American Journalism during the last year. Reviewers provide rigorous critiques of submitted manuscripts and, i...

  PublisherDOI

• Endnotes

  American Journalism · 2019-01-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Endnotes

  American Journalism · 2019-04-03

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Editor's Note

  American Journalism · 2018-07-03

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Carolyn Kitch

  2 shared

• Nancy L. Roberts

  2 shared

• Andy Opel

  Florida State University

  2 shared

• Mark Feldstein

  University of Maryland, College Park

  2 shared

• Terry Adams

  Barry University

  2 shared

• Janice Hume

  1 shared

• Chris W. Allen

  University of Nebraska at Omaha

  1 shared

• Lee Wilkins

  1 shared

Awards & honors

• Excellence in Teaching Award (Bellisario College Alumni Soci…
• Sidney Kobre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Hi…
• American Journalism Historians Association's award for the b…