I am interested in questions of technology, history and culture with a focus on South and West Asia. My scholarship advances the field of communication by moving beyond European and US dominated topics and approaches. Toward that end, my research builds on theories from “area studies” to examine mediated communication processes in Asia. I also engage in conversations surrounding the impact of interdisciplinary knowledge and public engagement on communication scholarship.
As part of my dissertation, which is jointly funded by the University of Iowa and Columbia University, I am conducting a cultural analysis of news production by and for the Indian migrant community in the Middle East. Specifically, it examines how a migrant newspaper functions in an inter-Asian setting in which journalists are “temporary migrants.” The project enables a better understanding of how vernacular digital and print newspapers in India are adapting to and negotiating with the demands of an increasingly global and transnational world.
Besides contributing to academic scholarship, my work has a major community engagement component, and I was an Obermann Graduate Fellow for publicly engaged research at University of Iowa. Since Summer 2018, I have been collaborating with the digital humanities staff at University of Iowa Libraries and with several South Asian diaspora organizations in the Middle East to build a digital archive that portrays the everyday lives of South Asians there who cultivate a dream to return to their homeland one day.
PUBLICATIONS
Refereed Journal Articles
Paul, S. & Dowling, D. (2019). Gandhi’s Newspaperman: T.G. Narayanan and the Quest for an Independent India, 1938-46. Modern Asian Studies. doi: 10.1017/S0026749X18000094
Paul, S. & Sosale, S. (2019). Witnessing a Disaster: Public Use of Digital Technologies in the 2015 South Indian Floods. Digital Journalism. doi: 10.1080/21670811.2019.1636693
Paul, S. (2019). The Gulf Crisis and Narratives of Emotionality in Nepal’s English-Language Press. International Journal of Communication, 13, 1323-1339.
Paul, S. (2018). Between Participation and Autonomy: Understanding Indian Citizen Journalists. Journalism Practice, 12(5), 526-542. [lead article]
Paul, S. & Dowling, D. (2018). Digital Archiving as Social Protest: Dalit Camera and the Mobilization of India’s “Untouchables.” Digital Journalism, 6(9), 1239-1254.
Paul, S. (2017). Journalism, not “Cheerleading”: An Ombudsman’s Paradigm Repair in the JNU Sedition Case in India. Journalism. OnlineFirst. doi: 10.1177/1464884917707844
Paul, S. (2017). Meskwaki Language Threat Gets Token News Coverage. Newspaper Research Journal, 38(3), 366-378.
Paul, S. & Carpenter, J.C. (2017). Jokes in Public: The Ethical Implications of Radio Prank Calls. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, 14(2/3), 33-41.
Paul, S. (2017). A New Public Sphere? English-language Stand-up Comedy in India. Contemporary South Asia, 25(2), 121-135. [lead article]
Paul, S. (2017). “When India was Indira”: Indian Express’s Coverage of the Emergency, 1975-77. Journalism History, 42(4), 201-211.
Book Chapters
Paul, S. (2018). East India Comedy: Channeling the Public Sphere in Online Satire In From Networks to Netflix: A Guide to Changing Channels. Derek Johnson (Ed.) New York: Routledge. pp. 265-273.
Encyclopedia Entries
Paul, S. & Berkowitz, D. (2019). Social Construction of News. The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies. Folker Hanusch and Tim Vos (Eds.). New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Special Issue/Section Editor
Paul, S. (2018). Mediating Global Migration. Special Issue of Journal of Communication Inquiry, 42 (4), 315-317.
Paul, S. (2018). 1968 Movements and Activism. Special Section in Journal of Communication Inquiry, 42(3), 281-283.
Other Publications
Dowling, D. & Paul, S. (2019). Digital Literary Journalism in Opposition: Meena Kandasamy and the Dalit Online Movement in India. Literary Journalism Studies, 11(1), 86-99.
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Rose Alex, D. & Paul, S. (2019). Engaging with News: Print Media and Literacy Practices in Kerala, India. Paper accepted for presentation at the 105th Annual Convention of the National Communication Association (NCA), Baltimore, USA.
Paul, S. (2019). Mediated Voices from the Periphery: A Study of Migrant Journalists from Kerala. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Washington, D.C., USA.
Paul, S. & Sosale, S. (2019). Witnessing a Disaster: Mobile Phones, Social Media, and Citizen Journalism during the 2015 South Indian Floods. Poster presented at the 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Washington, D.C., USA.
Paul, S. (2018). The Qatar-Gulf Crisis and Narratives of Emotionality in Nepal’s English-language Press. Paper presented at the 101st Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Washington, D.C., USA.
Paul, S. & Dowling, D. (2018). Dalit Online Activism: The Digital Archive as a Site of Political Resistance in India. Paper presented at the 101st Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Washington, D.C., USA
Paul, S. & Rose Alex, D. (2018). Media as Religion: Practices of Mediation in a Catholic Community in South India. Paper presented at the 101st Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Washington, D.C., USA.
Paul, S. (2018). Notes on the Practice of Constructive Journalism in India. Paper presented at the International Association for Media and Communication (IAMCR), Eugene, USA.
Paul, S. (2017). Between Participation and Autonomy: Understanding Indian Citizen Journalists. Paper presented at the 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), San Diego, USA.
Paul, S. (2017). A New Public Sphere? English-language Stand-up Comedy in India. Paper presented at the 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), San Diego, USA.
Rose Alex, D. & Paul, S. (2017). “Sacred Communication”: Ritualizing the Practice of Newspaper Reading. Paper presented at the 46th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.
Paul, S. & Dowling, D. (2016). Gandhi’s Newspaperman: T.G. Narayanan and the Quest for an Independent India, 1938-1946. Paper presented at the 35th Annual Convention of the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA), St. Petersburg, USA.
Paul, S. (2016). “When India was Indira”: Indian Express’ Coverage of the Emergency, 1975-1977. Poster presented at the 99th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Minneapolis, USA.
Paul, S. (2016). Toward the Bottom of the Pyramid? Rediscovering the Role of the PSB in India. Poster presented at the 66th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Fukuoka, Japan.
Paul, S. (2016). What Motivates a Citizen Journalist? A Survey of Participatory Journalism in India. Paper presented at the 45th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.
Paul, S. (2016). Coverage of Endangered Languages in Indian newspapers: A Mixed Methods Approach. Paper presented at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Paul, S. & Carpenter, J. C. (2015). Jokes in Public: The Ethical Implications of Radio Prank Calls. Poster presented at the 98th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), San Francisco, USA.
Paul, S. (2014). Coverage of the Meskwaki Language in the Des Moines Register. Paper presented at the 97th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Montreal, Canada.
Kim, B. W. & Paul, S. (2014). Accessibility-heuristic and Changes of Media Frame: Frame-changing in the U.S. Media Coverage of Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. Poster presented at the 97th Annual Conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Montreal, Canada.
