Janet E. Steele
Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs

Phone: (202) 994-2004
Fax: (202) 994-5806
E-mail: jesteele@gwu.edu
Office: MPA 421

Expertise

History of Journalism; Ideology and Professional Practices of Journalism; The Press in Modern Indonesia; Narrative Journalism; Media in the Developing World

Courses Taught

JOUR 100, Journalism Theory & Practice
SMPA 50, Introduction to Media and Public Affairs
JOUR 151, Narrative Journalism
SMPA 190/250 Media in the Developing World

Selected Works

Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto's Indonesia. Equinox Publishing and the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, 2005.

The Sun Shines for All: Journalism and Ideology in the Life of Charles A. Dana. Syracuse University Press, 1993.

"Representations of ‘The Nation’ in Tempo Magazine,” Indonesia 76 (October 2003) pp. 127-145.

"Suara Dari Dalam: Majalah TEMPO, 1971-2001," in TEMPO: 30 Tahun (1971-2001). PT Tempo Inti media TBK, 2001. pp. 7-18. ["The Voice of Their Hearts: TEMPO Magazine (1971-2001)."]

"Into the Brightness: Goenawan Mohamad and the Influence of TEMPO Magazine, 1994-1998," conference on "Media in the Asia Pacific World: Press and Politics in Economic Crisis," The Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College, Pomona, California, October, 1998.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Explain: Unofficial Sources and Television Coverage of the Dispute Over Gays in the Military," Political Communication, Spring 1997.

"Experts and the Operational Bias of Television News: The Case of the Persian Gulf War," Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 4, Winter 1995, pp. 799-812.

Background

Janet Steele is an Associate Professor of Journalism at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. She received her Ph.D. in History from the Johns Hopkins University, and is especially interested in how culture is communicated through the mass media. She is a frequent visitor to Indonesia, where she lectures on topics ranging from the role of the press in a democratic society to specialized courses on narrative journalism. Her most recent book, Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto’s Indonesia, focuses on Tempo magazine and its relationship to the politics and culture of New Order Indonesia. She has published articles on media history and criticism in journals such as Indonesia, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Political Communication, Columbia Journalism Review, and The American Journalism Review. A former Fulbright professor in the American Studies program at the University of Indonesia (1997-8), she has been awarded a second Fulbright teaching and research grant to Jakarta’s Dr. Soetomo Press Institute for 2005-2006.

Education

Ph.D., American Cultural History, The Johns Hopkins University, 1986

M.A., History, The Johns Hopkins University, 1982

B.A., History, The College of William and Mary, 1979