Cindy Royal is a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the founding director of the Media Innovation Lab. She specializes in teaching the practical and theoretical concepts of digital media. Dr. Royal completed Ph.D. studies in Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Texas at Austin in May 2005. Dr. Royal teaches Web development and other courses dealing with communication and technology.
Dr. Royal is the 2013 Charles E. Scripps Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year, presented by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Scripps Howard Foundation. She received the 2013 Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from Texas State. In 2017, she received the Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching Award from Texas State. During the 2013-2014 academic year, Royal was selected for the prestigious Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, the first full-time academic to be accepted in the program in its 50-year history. She developed a platform to teach programming skills to journalists and journalism students called CodeActually. Prior to doctoral studies, Dr. Royal had a career in Marketing at Compaq Computer (now part of Hewlett Packard) in Houston, TX and NCR Corporation in Dayton, OH. She has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Richmond and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dale Blasingame is an assistant professor of practice in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, where he received the 2017 Presidential Excellence Award for Teaching. Blasingame is a part of the Digital Media Innovation faculty, and he teaches courses that introduce students to different aspects of how technology is changing journalism, media and marketing. Some of his classes include Advanced Social Media and Analytics, Drone Journalism, Web Design and Publishing, Fundamentals of Digital and Online Media, and Digital Entrepreneurship. Before transitioning to Texas State, Blasingame was a television news producer. He spent nine years at WOAI-TV in San Antonio, where he won two Lone Star Emmy awards and was nominated for a third. Before that, he was a news anchor and sports reporter for KTSA-AM in San Antonio. In addition to his duties at Texas State, he is also the social media director for Leadhub, an internet marketing company he helped found in San Antonio.
In 2017, Blasingame received a grant to develop the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s first Study in America course, where he took students to do work in national parks. The program will enter its second year this summer.Blasingame is a member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, National Park Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association and The Trail Foundation. He’s also a licensed commercial drone pilot.
Amber Hinsley was a journalist in Los Angeles when she discovered she loved mentoring reporters as much as she loved being a reporter. After guest lecturing in several classes, she decided to go to graduate school to become a professor. She received her master’s degree from Kansas State University, and her doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Hinsley loves learning new tools as the journalism industry evolves, and she is fortunate to have taught a range of practical skills courses (like Multimedia Journalism, Data Journalism and Social Media as Professional Tools) as well as more critical analysis courses like Real News, Fake News & Media Literacy while at Texas State University or at her previous university.
Drawing on her experiences as a newsroom manager, Dr. Hinsley’s research has looked at the public’s experiences with fake news, journalists’ use of social media as crisis reporting tools, and the impact of a merger between a nonprofit news site and a public radio station, to name a few. Recently, Dr. Hinsley joined with an interdisciplinary research team to study communication related to COVID-19 and they have several projects in progress. Her research has been published in multiple academic journals, including Journalism, Journalism Studies, Newspaper Research Journal, #ISOJ, Journal of Radio and Audio Media, Health Communication, and Media Report to Women.
Kelly Kaufhold worked in news for 28 years in Ohio, Texas and Florida as a broadcast, magazine and new media journalist. He enjoyed a wonderful career as a reporter, videographer, photographer, editor and news manager in radio, television, magazine and online journalism. He got a chance to teach in 2001, which ignited a love for academia and led him to earn a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Miami in 2007 and a Ph.D. in journalism in May, 2011, from the University of Texas at Austin. He now teaches multimedia journalism and mass communication, including storytelling with photos, audio, video, web design and mobile devices, in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University. Kaufhold has a keen interest in the role of age and news habits in informed democracy, and is especially interested in where social media fits in that relationship. He is co-editor of the book The Future of News: An Agenda of Perspectives and his research has been published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Newspaper Research Journal, Electronic News, International Journal on Media Management and elsewhere. He has also been honored with multiple research awards from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and is the proud husband of Nuri Vallbona, also a journalism professor, and two teenaged kids.
Sara Shields is a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Shields is part of the Digital Media Innovation faculty and teaches courses that introduce students to web design, video production, graphic design and social media. She received her B.S. in Public Relations and M.A. in Digital Media from Texas State University. After graduating with her Master’s degree, she accepted a Digital Marketing Manager position where she worked on social media marketing, video production, web development and design. Shields produced professional commercials and radio ads that were ran hundreds of times throughout Central Texas. Later, she worked in Austin for an Artist Management Company as a Digital Content Manager. She worked on social media campaigns, websites and produced videos for a roster of 15+ clients throughout the country. Shields also runs a creative production business where she’s worked with several clients building websites, producing videos or designing graphics. She is currently a licensed commercial drone pilot.
Jon Zmikly graduated from Central Michigan University in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast & Cinematic Arts and a minor in Media Design, Production & Technology. After working at two television stations and one radio station in his home state of Michigan, he received his master’s degree in Media Studies with a concentration in new media at Texas State University-San Marcos. While a graduate student, he worked as a graduate instructional assistant, teaching Writing for Mass Communication (MC1313) labs and assisting with Television News (MC3312) classes. He also created and produced a variety television show called Studio B, interned at SXSW Interactive and became the webmaster at San Marcos Community Church.
Zmikly is currently a faculty member of the Digital Media Innovation sequence and the Assistant Director of the Media Innovation Lab. He has interests in coding, social media and immersive storytelling including virtual and augmented reality. He is also the co-founder of a full-service digital agency in Austin coiski and works at his church part-time. He is also the content manager of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication website and social accounts.
Professionals and past PhDigital Fellows will also be scheduled to teach sections of the program. Stay tuned!