A book written by School of Information Studies (iSchool) Associate Professor Jennifer Stromer-Galley has been selected as the 2015 Roderick P. Hart Outstanding Book Award by the National Communication Association’s (NCA) Political Communication Division.
“With 20 excellent books nominated for this year’s award, the committee…felt that Presidential Campaigning in the Internet Age was particularly outstanding in making a significant contribution to political communication scholarship…[and is] a truly important book,” wrote Jay Childers, chair of the NCA Political Communication Division awards for 2015.
Winners will be acknowledged later this week at the NCA’s annual convention in Las Vegas.
Dr. Stromer-Galley said of receiving the honor, “truthfully, I’m honored beyond words that the book was given the award. I’ve always hoped I might write a book that might win this award, but I never expected I’d actually do so.” She noted that her book “is a culmination of over a decade worth of research, and it was painful at times to write and hard to finish. It’s also an odd book in its format and method, and so I did not think it would be award-worthy because it doesn’t fit the mold – which makes the award that much sweeter to have received.”
The book challenges popular claims about the democratizing effect of Digital Communication Technologies (DCTs). It analyzes campaign strategies, structures and tactics from the past five presidential election cycles to reveal how despite the promise of increased communication between candidates and the individuals who support them, DCTs have done little to change the fundamental dynamics of campaigns.
NCA’s Political Communication Division is designed to support the work of scholars and practitioners engaged in the research, teaching and practice of political communication. Its scope permits study of communication and politics encompassing the communicative activity of citizens, individual political figures, public and governmental institutions, the media, political campaigns, advocacy groups and social movements, according to the NCA.
Division members number almost 500 and engage in research spanning American and comparative political communication, communication in international relations, the role of the media in agenda setting and public opinion and the role of the Internet in social and political life, among other topics.