James S. Ettema is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at Northwestern University where his teaching and research focus on the social organization and cultural impact of mass media and new communication technologies. He worked as a film maker and photographer before pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Michigan. He is a co-founder of Northwestern University’s Media, Technology and Society graduate program. He served for six years as chair of Communication Studies and for ten years as the faculty coordinator of professional graduate programs in the department.

Among his books is Custodians of Conscience: Investigative Journalism and Public Virtue written with Theodore L. Glasser of Stanford University. The book won the Frank Luther Mott-Kappa Tau Alpha Award from the National Journalism and Mass Communication Honor Society, the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State University, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for research on journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Recent articles include “A Community Confronts the Digital Divide: A Case Study of Social Capital Formation through Communication Activism” written with Andrew P. Herman;”Journalism as Reason-Giving: Deliberative Democracy, Institutional Accountability and the News Media’s Mission; and “Crafting Cultural Resonance: Imaginative Power in Everyday Journalism.” His current research includes media coverage of warfare and the contribution of new media to public affairs discourse.