Rate My Professor Cristina Azocar

Dr. Cristina L. Azocar, a citizen of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe, is a Professor of Journalism and Department Chair in the Communications faculty at San Francisco State University, where she also serves as Journalism Faculty Advisor. She earned a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University, and a bachelor's degree in Journalism from San Francisco State University. Azocar's career includes leadership as past president of the Native American Journalists Association, director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism for ten years, former editor of American Indian Issues for the Media Diversity Forum, and inaugural board member of the Women’s Media Center. She has contributed to accreditation efforts as a committee member of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, served on the Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning External Review Committee, and acted as a member of the advisory board of the American Native Press Archives. At San Francisco State University, she has coordinated the Presidential Scholars Program and formerly advised the Student Kouncil of Intertribal Nations. Her expertise encompasses representation of race and diversity in the news media, ethnic media, racial stereotypes in media, public policy on the role of media, and the social and psychological effects of mass media, with an interest in media diversity spanning more than 30 years.

Azocar's research focuses on the intersection of race and journalistic practice, particularly news coverage of Indigenous peoples. She authored News Media and the Indigenous Fight for Federal Recognition (2022) and co-edited the forthcoming Indigenous Peoples and the Media (University of Oklahoma Press, 2024). Her publications appear in American Indian Quarterly, Howard Journal of Communications, Health Communication, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Communication, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, International Journal of Home Economics, Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Communication Booknotes Quarterly, and numerous edited books. Currently, she is developing Decolonizing Media Research to challenge Eurocentric paradigms and a visual presentation titled “Pocahontas Chic” on 150 years of media commodification of Pocahontas. Azocar received the 2021 Distinguished Service to Journalism award from the NorCal Society of Professional Journalists, shared with Associate Professor Lourdes Cárdenas for creating the Bilingual Spanish Journalism degree, and was the first recipient of AEJMC’s Dr. Paula M. Poindexter Research Grant.