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Photograph of Rodger Streitmatter

Rodger Streitmatter Prof Emeritus School of Communication

Additional Positions at AU
Affiliate Faculty, History Department
Degrees
BA Journalism, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; MA English, Radford University; PhD U.S. History, American University

Bio
Rodger Streitmatter is a full-time professor of Journalism. A cultural historian, he is a leader in exploring how the media have helped to shape the way Americans think and act. The most recent of his nine books is A Force for Good ~ How the American News Media Have Propelled Positive Change. Streitmatter’s other books include Outlaw Marriages ~ The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples and Mightier than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History. Streitmatter also has a reputation as one of American University’s most popular classroom teachers.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Partnerships & Affiliations

  • Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication
    Member

  • The Newseum
    Consultant

  • Journalism History (academic journal)
    Corresponding Editor

  • American Journalism (academic journal)
    Guest Editor

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Research Interests

Rodger Streitmatter is a cultural historian who documents how the media have helped to shape American society. The most recent of his seven books—From ‘Perverts’ to ‘Fab Five’—looks at the impact of the media’s depiction of gay men and lesbians, with individual chapters focusing on, for example, the TV shows Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the film Brokeback Mountain, and the news coverage of same-sex marriage. Streitmatter’s earlier books include Mightier than the Sword, which looks at how mainstream journalism helped bring about events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the fall of Richard Nixon’s presidency, and Voices of Revolution, which documents the role of the advocacy press on such phenomena as women’s rights and the birth control movement.

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

       
  • American University Scholar/Teacher of the Year, 1995
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  • Top Faculty Research Award, History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, for paper titled “Defying the Ku Klux Klan: Three 1920s Newspapers Challenge the Most Powerful Nativist Movement in American Historyâ€
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  • Outstanding Journalism History Research Award, American Journalism Historians Association, for paper titled “AIDS and the Gay Press: Uncovering or Covering Up?â€Â 
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  • J. William Snorgrass Minorities Research Award, American Journalism Historians Association, for paper titled “AIDS and the Gay Press: Uncovering or Covering Up?â€Â 
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  • J. William Snorgrass Minorities Research Award, American Journalism Historians Association, for paper titled “Maria W. Stewart: Firebrand of the Abolition Movementâ€
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  • First Place, Bill of Rights Bicentennial Research Competition, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Commission on the Status of Women, for paper titled “African American Women Journalists: Breaking the Double Barriers of Race and Genderâ€
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  • Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars National Media Studies Essay Competition, second place, for “Front Page from the White House: A Quantitative Study of Presidential News Coverage from Teddy Roosevelt through Ronald Reaganâ€
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  • Outstanding Journalism History Research Award, American Journalism Historians Association, for paper titled “Theodore Roosevelt: Public Relations Pioneerâ€

Selected Publications

       
  • From ‘Perverts’ to ‘Fab Five’ ~ The Media’s Changing Depiction of Gay Men & Lesbians
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  • Mightier than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History
    •    
  • Sex Sells! ~ The Media’s Journey from Repression to Obsession
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  • Voices of Revolution: The Dissident Press in America
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  • Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt & Lorena Hickok
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  • Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay & Lesbian Press in America
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  • Raising Her Voice: African American Women Journalists Who Changed History

Grants and Sponsored Research

       
  • Senior Fulbright Professorship to Shanghai International Studies University in China
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  • Senior Fulbright Professorship to Moscow State University in Russia