Robin Blom
Robin Blom
Professor in School of Journalism and Strategic Communication

Phone:765-285-8737

Room:AJ 285A


About Robin Blom

Dr. Robin Blom is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and the Unified Research Lab (URL) Director. In the URL, he facilitates data collection efforts for research projects in eye tracking, virtual reality, psycho-physiology, media analytics, and gaming studies with affiliated faculty and student researchers.

Dr. Blom's own work focuses on the role of cognitive bias in acceptance of misinformation to better understand why people believe things that are false and do no believe things that are true. This research has been published in a variety of academic journals, such as American Behavioral Scientist; Journalism; Politics; Culture and Socialization; Journal of Media Sociology; and Journalism and Mass Communication Educator. He is currently an editorial board member of Newspaper Research Journal.

Dr. Blom was selected as the Ball Brothers Foundation Honors College Faculty Fellow (2020-2022) to teach several courses: Eyewitness misidentification and social injustice, Pseudoscience and conspiracy theories, and The synthesis of scientific and legal scholarship. Within the journalism department he also teaches Studies in journalism and communication theory, Journalistic judgements and sociology of news, Media audiences and content strategy, Social media analytics and engagement, and more.

Professional Experience

 

  • Ball State University: Assistant/Associate Professor, 2013-present
  • Michigan State University: Instructor and Teaching Assistant, 2007-2013
  • Point Park University: Teaching Assistant, 2006-2007

Education

 

  • Ph.D., Media & Information Studies, Michigan State University
  • M.A., Journalism & Mass Communication, Point Park University
  • B.A., Journalism, Hogeschool van Utrecht

Selected Research and Publication

 

  • Blom, R. (in press, available online). Believing false political headlines and discrediting truthful political headlines: The interaction between news source trust and news content expectancy. Journalism.
  •  Blom, R. (2019). Eyes wide shut: Failures to teach student journalists about eyewitness error. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator.
  • Blom, R. (2019). The irony at the heart of “fake” news and “alternative” facts. In S. Jimenez
  • Murguía (Ed.), Trumping truth: Essays on the destructive power of “alternative facts,” Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press.
  • Blom, R. (2019). Fact or fiction: Believability of news content from opposing media outlets. Electronic Journal of Communication.
  • Blom, R., Bowe, B. J., & Davenport, L. D. (2019). Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) accreditation: Quality or compliance? Journalism Studies.

Honors and Awards

 

  • Ball Brothers Honors College Faculty Fellow, 2020-2022
  • Distinguished Researcher Award, College of Communication, Information, and Media, 2019
  • High Technology Award, College of Communication, Information, and Media, 2016
  • Martha Rayne Award for Media History Research, Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, 2011
  • Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Teaching Fellow, Michigan State University, 2009


Course Schedule
Course No. Section Times Days Location
Contemp American Civ 199 4 1400 - 1515 T R BC, room 105
Studies in Journ Com 601 800 0000 - 0000 OL, room ONLINE
News Editing 215 1 1100 - 1215 T R AJ, room 339