Audience Tools

Rachel Moran

CV Senior Research Scientist, Center for an Informed Public, Affiliate Assistant Professor

Specializations

  • Trust in Information Environments
  • Misinformation & Disinformation
  • Journalism

Research Areas

Courses

  • IMT 589 - Special Topics In Information Management
  • INSC 598 - Special Topics In Information Science
  • LIS 598 - Special Topics In Information And Library Science

Biography

Rachel received her doctoral degree from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Her research explores the role of trust in digital information environments and is particularly concerned with how trust is implicated in the spread of mis- and dis-information. Her research has been published in Information, Communication & Society, Digital Journalism, Journalism Practice, Media, Culture & Society and Telecommunications Policy. Moran also holds a BA and an MA in Social and Political Science from Cambridge University and an MA in Political Communications from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She was the Oakley Endowed Fellow at USC for 2018-19 and the 2018 Benton Foundation Junior Scholar.

Education

  • Ph D, Communication, University of Southern California, 2020
  • MA, Political Communications, University of London, 2014
  • BA, Cantab Politics, Psychology, Sociology, and International Studies, University of Cambridge, 2012

Awards

  • Oakley Endowed Fellowship - USC, 2018-2019
  • Annenberg Summer Research Funding - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2019
  • Annenberg Teaching Fellowship - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2019
  • Travel Award, Political Communication Division - American Political Science Association, 2019
  • Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Award - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2018
  • Annenberg Summer Research Funding - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2018
  • Charles Benton Junior Scholar Award - TPRC, 2018
  • Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Award - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2017
  • Annenberg Summer Research Funding - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2017
  • Top Paper Award - Western States Communication Association, 2017
  • Consortium on Media Policy Studies Fellowship - COMPASS, 2016
  • Annenberg Graduate Fellowship - USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 2015

Memberships

  • American Political Science Association
  • American Sociology Association
  • Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association
  • International Communication Association
  • National Communication Association

Publications and Contributions

Presentations

  • Trust and Authenticity as Tools for Journalism and Weapons for Partisan Disinformation (2020)
    Beyond Disinformation: Authenticity and Trust in the Online World: Social Science Research Council Annual Meeting - Virtual
  • A “Walter Cronkite” for the Digital News Generation: The Utility and Dangers of Individual Relationships of Trust (2019)
    Annual Meeting of the International Journal of Press / Politics - Loughborough, UK
  • All the news that’s fit to wear: Exploring news media merchandise as objects of journalism (2019)
    Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association - Washington D.C.
  • Exploring Trust in Partisan Media: Podcasts & the Rejection of Objectivity (2019)
    Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association - Washington D.C.
  • Organizing to Survive: Exploring the Rise of Unionization in Digital Newsrooms (2019)
    Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association - Baltimore, MD
  • Subscribing to Transparency: Rantt Media’s Use of Slack to Build Audience Trust (2019)
    ICA Preconference on Engaged Journalism - Washington D.C
  • Subscribing to Transparency: Technological Interventions into Trust Building in Online News (2019)
    Future of Journalism Conference - Cardiff, UK
  • The Doxxing Dilemma: Privacy and Publicity in Digital America (2019)
    11th annual Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Symposium - Los Angeles, California
  • Fake News, Real Problem (2018)
    San Diego Society of Professional Journalists and the San Diego Central Library - San Diego, California
  • Technical Approaches to Combating “Fake News”: Assessing Current Typologies (2018)
    10th annual Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Symposium - Los Angeles, California
  • Fact-Checking in a Post-Truth World: Detangling Journalistic Style and Substance (2017)
    9th annual Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Symposium - Los Angeles, California