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A.Jay Wagner
Dr. A.Jay WagnerÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ

Johnston Hall, 339

MilwaukeeWI53201United States of America(414) 288-4068

Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies

Journalism and Media Studies

Education

Ph.D., Indiana University, 2016
M.A., DePaul University, 2010
B.S., University of Dayton, 2006

Courses Taught

JOUR 1550 Writing for News
COMM 3800 Media Law
JOUR 4150 Investigative Reporting
JOUR 4600 Journalism History
COMM 4750 Media, Technology and Culture
JOUR 4932 Opinion Writing
JOUR 4997 Capstone in Journalism
COMM 6250 Communication as Ethical Practice
COMM 6825 Government Information
COMM 6924 The 21st Century First Amendment

Research Interests

Media law and policy
Access to government information
Freedom of Information Act
Political economy of information

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Bradley University, 2016-2018
  • Various roles for the Bloomington Herald Times, Bloom Magazine, Sun-Times Media Group and The Chicago Reporter, 2009-2015
  • Summer Associate, International Press Institute, 2012

Publications

  • Tale of Two Requesters: How Public Records Law Experiences Differ by Requester Types, (2024).
  • Owning the Police: Crime Data, Copyright, and Public Information, (2023).
  • To Fee or Not to Fee: Requester Attitudes Toward Freedom of Information Charges, (2023).
  • Whose Public Virtue? Exploring Freedom of Information Efficacy and Support,
    (2022).
  • Popular Information: An Analysis of FOI Use and Behavior, (2022).
  • Inherent Frictions and Deliberate Frustrations: Examining the Legal Variables of State FOI Law Administration, (2021).
  • Piercing the Veil: Examining the Demographic and Political Variables of State FOI Law Administration, (2021).
  • Pandering, Priority or Political Weapon: Presidencies, Political Parties and the Freedom of Information Act, (2021).
  • A Structural Imperative: Freedom of Information, the First Amendment and the Accountability Function of Expression, (2020).
  • "Longstanding, Systemic Weaknesses": Hillary Clinton's Emails, FOIA's Defects & Affirmative Disclosure, (2019).
  • A Secret Police: The Lasting Impact of the 1986 FOIA Amendments, (2018).
  • Essential or Extravagant: Considering FOIA Budgets, Costs and Fees, (2017).
  • Controlling Discourse, Foreclosing Recourse: The Creep of the Glomar Response, (2016).
    • Reprinted in (W. Wat Hopkins ed., 2018).

Honors and Awards

Teacher of the Year, Diederich College of Communication, 2024
Second Place, National Freedom of Information Coalition Research Competition, 2023
Federal FOIA Advisory Committee, 2020-2022
Scholar of the Year, Diederich College of Communication, 2022
Third Place, National Freedom of Information Coalition Research Competition, 2021 & 2022
First Place, National Freedom of Information Coalition Research Competition, 2020
Robert M. O’Neil Top Paper Award, NCA, Freedom of Expression Division, 2017
Top Debut Faculty Paper, AEJMC, Law & Policy Division, 2017
Top Paper, NCA, Communication & Law Division, 2016
DePaul University Excellence in Journalism Scholarship, 2010