Dr. Janet A. Bridges
Professor of Mass Communication
Sam Houston State University
Dr. Bridges initially came to Sam Houston as department chair. She was brought in to
develop what is now the department of Mass Communication. At the time, she had been
teaching at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Experience: Dr. Bridges holds a Ph.D. in Mass Media from Michigan State University.
Her experience before she came to SHSU included nearly 15 years at Louisiana at
Lafayette where she served several years as graduate coordinator and a year as a Board of
Regents Support Fund Professor. Prior to completing her Ph.D. at Michigan State she had
been primary research assistant for a National Science Foundation Media Environment
Study. Before beginning the Ph.D. she managed a six-institution research project funded
by the U.S. Office of Education for one of the offices at Central Michigan University.
Earlier she had been responsible for all departmental publications.
Teaching Specialties: Her teaching specialties are Research, especially at the Graduate
Level. She currently teaches Campaigns, an interesting and challenging course where
students work with a client during the semester, as well as an introductory course in
Public Relations.
Research Interests: Primary research interests for Dr. Bridges have focused on newspaper
content in the United States. After some earlier articles were published, two book
publishers requested manuscripts. These articles, based on a theoretical approach to
Newspaper Competition, were completed by three scholars: Dr. Bridges, Michigan State
faculty member Barry R. Litman, and Dr. Bridges’ research partner at Texas A&M
Commerce. A third book contribution was a theoretical article on Issues Management
published with Richard Nelson, then at Louisiana.
Her current research has focused on newspaper content and changes.
Education: As noted, Dr. Bridges holds a Ph.D. in Mass Media from Michigan State
University in East Lansing. She completed an M.A. in Journalism at Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale. Her undergraduate work was completed at what is now the
University of Memphis.
Memberships/Affiliations: Dr. Bridges is on the editorial board of the Newspaper
Research Journal and an active member of the Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication where she currently serves as co-chair of the Professional
Freedom and Responsibility committee.
Awards, Activities and Honors: Most recognition has been as part of the research
mentioned above.
Contact Information: Dr. Bridges can be reached at jabridges@shsu.edu. Her office
telephone is: 936-294-3651.
Janet A. Bridges, Select Vitae
Professor, Department of Mass Communication
Sam Houston State University
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Ph.D. in Mass Media
Research in Process:
News About the News: The Industry attempts to report movement in the field
(presented August 2013 at national AEJMC conference).
This presentation concentrated primarily on the many issues associated
with current newspapers as a news resource.
“Front Page News, 1989-2010” – national content analysis of ~80 newspapers from
2010– in process [three partners// presented update at CHSS College
Colloquium]/ preliminary report presented August 2012 at national AEJMC
conference.
Selected, Relevant Publications:
Janet A. Bridges. Corporate Campaign Theories. Encyclopedia of Communication Theory.
Sage. (August 2009). [Invited.]
Janet A. Bridges. Corporate Issues Campaigns: Six Theoretical Approaches.
Communication Theory 14:1 (2004), 51-77.
Janet A. Bridges, Barry R. Litman & Lamar W. Bridges. Rosse’s Model Revisited:
Moving to Concentric Circles to Explain Newspaper Competition. Journal of
Media Economics 15:1 (2002), 3-19.
Janet A. Bridges. A Discussion of Traditional and Computerized Survey Techniques to
Reach Target Publics and a Field Experiment to Determine Their Media Use.
Journal of Promotion Management 5:2 (2000), 17-34. [Invited]
Janet A. Bridges. Comparison of Alternative Survey Modes for Identifying Publics: RS,
Demographics and Media Use. in Jerry Biberman and Abbass Alkhafaji (Eds.).
Business Research Yearbook: Global Business Perspectives, 6 (International Academy
of Business Disciplines, 1999), 624-628. [Invited Proceedings].
Janet A. Bridges & Lamar W. Bridges. Issues Management and Managing Issues:
In Jerry Biberman and Abbass Alkhafaji, (Eds.). Business Research YEARBOOK:
Global Business Perspectives, 5 (International Academy of Business Disciplines,
1998) 741-745. [Invited Proceedings]
Janet A. Bridges & Lamar W. Bridges. Changes in News Use on the Front Pages of the
American Newspaper, 1986-1993. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 74
(Winter 1997), 826-838.
Lamar W. Bridges & Janet A. Bridges. An Examination of the Newspaper
Ombudsman’s Role During a Presidential Campaign. Newspaper Research Journal
16 (Spring 1995), 76-90.
Selected Books and Book Chapters
Janet A. Bridges, Barry R. Litman & Lamar W. Bridges. Rosse’s Model and the Ring
Model: Explaining Newspaper Competition in the Millennium. In Patula E.
Grossmark (Ed.). Advances in Communications in Media Research, Vol. 3. Nova
Science Publishers, 2006, pp. 1-21. [Chapter reprinted from Newspaper Competition
in the Millennium.]
Janet A. Bridges, Barry R. Litman & Lamar W. Bridges (Eds.). Newspaper Competition in
the Millennium . Nova Science Publishers, 2006. [Publisher requested this
manuscript because of JME article.]
Responsible for three chapters:
Janet A. Bridges, Barry R. Litman & Lamar W. Bridges. Rosse’s Model and the
Ring Model: Explaining Newspaper Competition in the Millennium, pp. 1-21;
Introduction, pp. vii-xii; Summary and Conclusions, pp. 121-127.
Relevant Presentations:
Janet A. Bridges, George Sylvie, Lamar W. Bridges, & Sandra H. Utt. Front Page News
Values in a National Sample of U.S. Daily Newspapers: A Preliminary Report.
Paper presented to the Religion & Media Interest Group/Mass Communication
& Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication, AEJMC, August, 2012.
Janet A. Bridges & Wanda Reyes Valezquez. Issues Related to and Affecting Risk
Communication. Paper presented to the Mass Communication Section, WSSA, Houston
Texas, April 2012.
Janet A. Bridges. “Issues Management: Development of an Issue and the AgendaSetting Function of Mass Media.” Paper presented to the Public Relations &
Corporate Communication Track of the International Academy of Business
Disciplines, Las Vegas, 2000. [Invited]
Janet A. Bridges. “Comparison of Alternative Survey Modes for Identifying Publics: RS,
Demographics and Media Use.” Paper presented to the Public Relations &
Corporate Communication Track of the International Academy of Business
Disciplines, Chicago, March 1999. [Invited]
Janet A. Bridges & Lamar W. Bridges. “Issues Management and Managing Issues:
Refining the Concept.” Paper presented to the Public Relations & Corporate
Communication Track of the International Academy of Business Disciplines, San
Francisco, April 1998. [Invited]
Janet A. Bridges, Barry Litman & Lamar W. Bridges. “Rosse’s Model Revisited: Moving
from Linearity to Concentric Circles to Explain Newspaper Competition.” Paper
presented to the Media Management & Economics Division of the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, July 1997. Selected top
faculty paper in the division.
Lamar W. Bridges & Janet A. Bridges. “Changes in News Use on the Front Pages of the
American Daily Newspaper: A Preliminary Report.” Paper presented to the
Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication, Washington DC, August 1995.
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
Spr. 2005- +
SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY, Huntsville Texas
Department of Mass Communication
2007+ - Professor
2005-2007 Professor and Chair
1988-fall 2004
THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE, Lafayette
Louisiana.
2003-Professor of Communication
1998 - Board of Regents Support Fund Professor in Communication
1996 - 2004, Graduate Coordinator; 1994 -2003, Associate Professor
1988-1994, Assistant Professor
Spr. 1984-1988
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COMMERCE, Commerce Texas.
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Fall 1981Spr. 1983
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, Mt. Pleasant Michigan.
Temporary Assistant Professor
Sept. 1978July 1981
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, East Lansing Michigan.
Graduate Assistant.
September 1979-July 1981: primary research assistant for a national
Media Environment Study funded by the National Science
Foundation. Primary responsibility for most of the statistical
analysis; active involvement in all other phases of the project.
Dec. 1979Mar. 1981
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, Institute for Personal and
Career Development, Mt. Pleasant Michigan
Research Project Manager
Managed a six-institution research project funded by the U.S. Office of
Education. Responsible for all phases of research.
Information about other research available on request.