Lynda Lee Kaid is Professor of Telecommunication at the University of Florida where she specializes in political communication. A three-time Fulbright Scholar, she has also done work on political television in several European, Asian, and Latin American countries.
She is the author/editor of more than 25 books, including The Encyclopedia of Political Communication, The Handbook of Political Communication Research, Videostyle in Presidential Campaigns , and Political Advertising in Western Democracies. She has also written over 150 journal articles and book chapters on various aspects of political communication.
She has received over $ 2 million in external grant funds for her research efforts, including support from the U. S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Election Assistance Commission, and the National Science Foundation. Kaid is a former chair of the Political Communication Divisions of the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association and has served in leadership roles the American Political Science Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Dr. Mitchell S. McKinney is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri. He teaches courses in political communication, and rhetorical theory and criticism. His research interests include presidential debates, political campaigns, media and politics, and presidential rhetoric.
Dr. McKinney has combined practical political experience with his training as a political communication scholar, having served as a staff member in the U.S. Senate and at the White House. He has served as a consultant to C-SPAN and also the national Commission on Presidential Debates, advising the Commission on how debates might be structured in order to better educate voters. He also advised the Korean presidential debate committee in planning their 2002 televised presidential debates.
Dr. McKinney is a frequent commentator for national and international news media, and has served as a presidential and vice presidential debate analyst for such national media as The New York Times, USA Today and also for NPR's "All Things Considered."
McKinney is the co-author/editor of 4 books, and his research has appeared in Communication Monographs, American Behavioral Scientist, Journal of Communication, Communication Studies, among other journals. McKinney was the founding Chair of the Central States Communication Association's Political Communication Division, and he also served as Chair of the National Communication Association's Political Communication Division.
Dr. Dianne Bystrom, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, has personal and professional experience in covering, working in, and studying political campaigns. She earned a B.A. in Journalism in 1975 from Kearney (NE) State College and an M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication in 1982 and a Ph.D. in Communication in 1995 from the University of Oklahoma. Her current research interests focus on (1) the styles and strategies used by women and men political candidates in their television advertising, Web sites and speeches and (2) the coverage of women candidates and political leaders by the media. She is a frequent commentator about political and women's issues for state and national media
Dr. Bystrom is a co-author, co-editor and contributor to 13 books—including Gender and Candidate Communication (2004), Legislative Women: Getting Elected, Getting Ahead (2008), Gender and Elections (2006), Communicating Politics (2005), The Handbook of Political Communication Research (2004), The Millennium Election (2003), Anticipating Madam President (2003), Women Transforming Congress (2002), The Electronic Election (1999), and The Lynching of Language: Gender, Politics, and Power in the Hill-Thomas Hearings (1996)—and has written journal articles on women and politics and youth voters. She currently serves as secretary/treasurer of the Political Communication Division of the American Political Science Association.
In addition to directing the Center, Dr. Bystrom teaches courses in leadership, women and politics, and political campaigns for Women’s Studies, Political Science and Speech Communication as an adjunct assistant professor of political science. Before joining Iowa State in July 1996, she worked for 17 years at the University of Oklahoma in public relations, higher education administration and political communication.
John C. Tedesco is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Virginia Tech University.
His research focuses on mass mediated political communication, including advertising, public relations, news, and the Internet in both U.S. and comparative political settings.
Tedesco has published in numerous journals and has authored a variety of book chapters. He is the co-author of two books on U.S. politics. Before joining Virginia Tech, Tedesco held positions as Archive and Research Specialist and Research Associate at the University of Oklahoma’s Political Communication Center and its Political Commercial Archive. He also has experience as a legislative intern for the Civil Service Employees Association PAC (New York State) and as reporter/editorial assistant for the Times Herald-Record (Middletown, New York).
Dr. Mary Christine Banwart is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. She teaches courses in political communication and leadership.
Dr. Banwart’s primary research focuses on political campaign communication and the influence of gender in political campaigns, with specific attention directed toward political advertising, campaign web sites, and mixed-gender debates. She has authored book chapters and journal articles examining the strategic use of advertising in political campaigns, gendered uses of communication on campaign web sites, the gender gap, and news coverage in mixed-gender races. She is a co-author of the book, Gender and Political Candidate Communication: VideoStyle, WebStyle, and NewsStyle. She has prior experience in marketing as well as in administration for a county, state, and federal agency corporate partner.