Johnson-Cartee, Karen S. 1956–

(Karen J. Cartee, Karen Johnson Cartee)

PERSONAL:

Born July 31, 1956, in Bluefield, WV; daughter of Easel Endel Johnson and Betty Jane Maddox; married Michael Jackson Cartee (an attorney), July 18, 1987. Education: College of William and Mary, B.A., 1978; University of Tennessee, Knoxville, M.S., 1979, Ph.D. (doctoral honors), 1984.

ADDRESSES:

Office—University of Alabama, College of Communication and Information Sciences, Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172. E-mail—cartee@apr.ua.edu; cart3912@bellsouth.net.

CAREER:

University of Alabama, Birmingham, temporary assistant professor, 1982-83; University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, assistant professor, 1983-89, associate professor, 1989-96, professor of advertising and public relations and communication studies, 1996—, associate dean for undergraduate studies, College of Communication and Information Sciences, 1991-95, served as chair of various committees. Political media consultant to political campaigns in the United States and abroad. Member of West Alabama Chamber of Commerce, 1988.

MEMBER:

American Association of Political Consultants, Pi Sigma Alpha.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grants from University of Alabama, 1983-84, 1985, 1986-87, and 1988; outstanding young scholar award, University of Alabama, 1985-86; National American Association of University Women Award nomination, 1985; award for outstanding contribution to the university and broadcast and film department, Omicron Delta Kappa, 1987; Outstanding Teaching Award, Golden Key National Honor Society, 1987; Knox Hagood Out-standing Faculty Award, University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences, 1990-91.

WRITINGS:

(With Gary A. Copeland) Negative Political Advertising: Coming of Age, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (Hillsdale, NJ), 1991.

(With Gary A. Copeland) Inside Political Campaigns: Theory and Practice, introduction by Dan Nimmo, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT), 1997.

(With Gary A. Copeland) Manipulation of the American Voter: Political Campaign Commer-cials, Praeger Publishers (Westport, CT), 1997.

(With Gary A. Copeland) Strategic Political Communication: Rethinking Social Influence, Persuasion, and Propaganda, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Lanham, MD), 2004.

News Narratives and News Framing: Constructing Political Reality, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Lanham, MD), 2005.

Contributor to books, including New Perspectives on Political Advertising: The Political Communication Yearbook II, edited by L. Kaid, D. Nimmo, and K. Sanders, Southern Illinois Press, 1986. Contributor to periodicals, including ASJMC Insights, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Journalism Quarterly, New Perspectives on Political Advertising, Newspaper Research Journal, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Southeastern Political Science Review, and Tuscaloosa News.

SIDELIGHTS:

Karen S. Johnson-Cartee has done extensive work as a media consultant on political campaigns at the city, state, national, and even international levels, taught for more than twenty-five years, and published several books in her field. Her 1997 book Manipulation of the American Voter: Political Campaign Commercials, written with Gary A. Copeland, studies different types of political advertisements in light of the disciplines of political science, political communication, and production. Writing for the American Political Science Review, Karen M. Kedrowski particularly highlighted the authors' discussion of negative ads as "well worth reading" and deemed "excellent" their chapter on filming techniques. Kedrowski expressed disappointment in what she perceived as inadequate analysis but maintained the book's value as "an exhaustive literature review."

News Narratives and News Framing: Constructing Political Reality is Johnson-Cartee's fifth book and first solo volume. In this work the author argues that news is socially constructed, and she discusses how various groups work to influence the news to reflect their views. Reviewing the book for the Public Opinion Quarterly, Michael R. McCluskey remarked on how Johnson-Cartee "weaves together a mixture of academic perspectives from public relations to political science to sociology," and he stated that the author "has touched on some useful ways to think about and study the social construction of news." Yves Laberge in the Canadian Journal of Sociology Online deemed the book "a stimulating, thought-provoking reflection about the way news is made and shared." Laberge made a number of positive comments on the book, pointing out its originality, timeliness, interdisciplinary scope, and quality writing, and he concluded, "I can not think of a better book in media studies so far in this decade."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Political Science Review, June, 1998, Karen M. Kedrowski, review of Manipulation of the American Voter: Political Campaign Commercials, p. 462.

Choice, January, 1992, D. Nimmo, review of Negative Political Advertising: Coming of Age, p. 815; September, 1997, review of Inside Political Campaigns: Theory and Practice, p. 218; March, 1998, review of Manipulation of the American Voter, p. 1185; April, 2005, D. Caristi, review of News Narratives and News Framing: Constructing Political Reality, p. 1395.

Food Technology, summer, 1992, review of Negative Political Advertising, p. 475.

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, spring, 1998, Lawrence Bowen, review of Manipulation of the American Voter, p. 215.

Journalism Quarterly, summer, 1992, John E. Newhagen, review of Negative Political Advertising, p. 475.

Journal of Communication, summer, 1992, David Sullivan, review of Negative Political Advertising, p. 186; winter, 1994, Ronald J. Faber, review of Negative Political Advertising, p. 165.

Mass Communication and Society, spring, 2006, Paul D'Angelo, review of News Narratives and News Framing, pp. 257-260.

Political Communication, April-June, 2007, Jill A. Edy, review of News Narratives and News Framing, p. 221.

Presidential Studies Quarterly, spring, 1993, Robert E. Denton, Jr., review of Negative Political Advertising, p. 366.

Public Opinion Quarterly, spring, 2006, Michael R. McCluskey, review of News Narratives and News Framing, p. 121.

Reference & Research Book News, August, 1997, review of Inside Political Campaigns, p. 109; February, 1998, review of Manipulation of the American Voter, p. 97; February, 2004, review of Strategic Political Communication: Rethinking Social Influence, Persuasion, and Propaganda, p. 124; February, 2005, review of News Narratives and News Framing, p. 255.

ONLINE

Canadian Journal of Sociology Online,http://www.cjsonline.ca/ (May-June, 2006), Yves Laberge, review of News Narratives and News Framing.

University of Alabama Web site,http://www.ua.edu/ (September 22, 2008), faculty profile.