Rate My Professor Marcus Funk

Marcus Funk is an Associate Professor of Mass Communication in the Department of Mass Communication at Sam Houston State University, where he has been employed since August 2014. He earned his Ph.D. in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin in December 2013, with a dissertation titled “Analyzing Content Deviance in American Community Journalism Websites and Social Media.” His M.A. in Journalism is also from The University of Texas at Austin, completed in May 2010, with a thesis titled “Buried in the Backyard: A Study of Locally Generated Content in Small U.S. Newspapers.” Funk received his B.A. in Communication, Political Science, and International Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, in May 2007. Before entering academia full-time, he worked as a professional journalist, serving as Capitol Reporter and Freelancer for Community Impact Newspaper in Austin from January 2011 to 2013, Editor of The Elgin Courier from May to August 2010, Legislative Reporter for The Dallas Morning News Austin Bureau from January to June 2009, Government Reporter for The Terrell Tribune and Rockwall County News from October 2007 to July 2008, and Government Reporter for The Kerrville Daily Times in summer 2007.

At Sam Houston State University, Funk teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including podcasting, news editing, media literacy and fact checking, digital journalism, research methods, and multimedia production skills. He has served as Track Head for Multiplatform Journalism since 2018 and as faculty adviser for the student newspaper The Houstonian from 2014 to 2018. Funk has published over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles in leading outlets such as Journalism Studies, Mass Communication and Society, Journalism Practice, The Agenda Setting Journal, and #ISOJ Journal. Notable publications include “Centrist Language, Camouflaged Ideology: Assembled Text-Based Content on Mainstream and Ideological News Podcasts” (Journalism Studies, 2022, with Burton Speakman), “News, Nationalism, and Hegemony: The Formation of Consistent Issue Framing Throughout the U.S. Political Right” (Mass Communication and Society, 2020, with Burton Speakman), “Strangers on a Theoretical Train: Inter-Media Agenda Setting, Community Structure and Local News Coverage” (Journalism Studies, 2017, with Maxwell McCombs), “Decoding the Podaissance: Identifying Community Journalism Practices in Newsroom and Avocational Podcasts” (#ISOJ Journal, 2017), and “r/Agenda_rejection: Attribute Agenda-Setting Resistance between Horizontal Reddit Pages and Vertical News Coverage” (The Agenda Setting Journal, 2018). His work has accumulated over 330 citations, demonstrating impact in areas such as podcasting, agenda setting, community journalism, digital media, and conservative media. Funk participates in university service, including as a member of the Curriculum Committee and Graduate Faculty in Mass Communication.