Patricia Phalen
Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs

Phone: (202) 994-4016
Fax: (202) 994-5806
E-mail: phalen@gwu.edu
Office: MPA 413

Expertise

Audience Research; Socio-Economics and History of Media Institutions; Women in Media

Courses Taught

EMDA 100, Introduction to American Electronic Media
EMDA 188, Effects of Electronic Media
EMDA 190, Audience Research
SMPA 50, Introduction to Media and Public Affairs
SMPA 199, Senior Seminar
SMPA 201, Media Processes and Institutions

Selected Works

Ratings Analysis: The Theory and Practice of Audience Research. (2nd Edition). (2000). With James G. Webster and Lawrence W. Lichty. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

The Mass Audience: Rediscovering the Dominant Model. (1997). With James G. Webster. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

"Using Substitutes fro Full-Text News Stories in Content Analysis: Which Text is Best?" With Scott Althaus and Jill Edy. (Summer, 2001). American Journal of Political Science, 45(3), 707-723.

"(Ms)taking Context for Content: Framing the Fourth World Conference on Women." With Ece Algan. (August 2001). Political Communication.

"Trading Time and Money for Information in the Television Advertising Market: Strategies and Consequences." (2003). In Albarran, A. and Arrese, A. (Eds.). Time and Media Markets. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Background

Patricia Phalen taught at Ohio University until 1998, when she joined the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. Currently, she serves as SMPA's Director of Graduate Studies and teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses.

Phalen earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern's Department of Radio/Television/Film during the university's "Rosebowl Season" of 1996. Prior to acquiring her doctorate, Phalen worked in media planning at Foote, Cone & Belding, and in audience research at WTTW, Chicago's largest public television station. Her research at GW combines this industry experience with scholarship in the field of Media Industry Studies. She has published articles in the Journal of Media Economics, the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, the American Journal of Political Science, and Political Communication. She also is the co-author of Ratings Analysis: Theory and Practice (with J. Webster and L. Lichty, 2000), and The Mass Audience: Rediscovering the Dominant Model (with J. Webster, 1997), both published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Phalen is active in the Broadcast Education Association, and she serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. Her expertise is in Audience Research and the Socio-economic History of Media Institutions.

A native New Englander, Phalen claims both Connecticut and Massachusetts as her "home state." Her fondest memories of growing up in the Boston area include basketball and hockey games at the Boston Garden and victory parades for the Celtics and Bruins. She is a lifetime fan of all Boston teams--including the Red Sox.

Education

Ph.D., Radio-TV-Film, Northwestern University, 1996

M.A., Telecommunications Science, Management and Policy, Northwestern University, 1991

M.B.A., Boston College, 1983

B.A., Boston College, 1980