Paola Prado, Dept. Chairperson

Bsky: @pradomedia.bsky.social 

Paola Prado, Ph.D., is a Professor, Journalism and Digital Media, and Chair, Department of Media + Design + Communication at Roger Williams University. Her research on environmental news reporting in Latin America appeared in various journals and, most recently, in Media, Journalism and Disaster Communities. She is co-author of Environmental News in South America: Conflict, Crisis and Contestation and co-editor of Climate Change, Media & Culture: Critical Issues in Global Environmental Communication. 

A pioneer in online media, Prado directed news production for the Latin American and U.S. Latino arm of RealNetworks and the Latino community portal El Sitio. Prado’s career started at Reuters Television, where she produced and licensed news coverage for television broadcast, and later included executive management positions at CBS TeleNoticias and The Weather Channel Latin America.

Courses Taught

• FILM.101 Introduction to Film Studies

• FILM.270 Documentary Film

• JOUR.270 Journalism & Society

• JOUR.320 Broadcast News

• JOUR.355/JOUR.455 Digital Journalism

• JOUR.470 Journalism Capstone & Portfolio

Academic Affiliations

• Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) 

• International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) 

• New England Council for Latin American Studies (NECLAS)

• Online News Association (ONA)

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

• Prado, P. (2017). “Mapping citizen journalism and the promise of digital inclusion: A perspective from the global south.” Global Media and Communication, 2(2). 

• Prado, P.; Tirado-Alcaraz, A.; & Camara, M. A. (2016). “Perceptions of ICT use in rural Brazil: Factors that impact appropriation among marginalized communities.” Journal of Community Informatics, 12(3). 

• Pinto, J. G.; Prado, P.; & Tirado-Alcaraz, A. (2016). “Mediating Claims of Environmental Degradation, Source Credibility and Risk to Human Health: Ecuadorian News Coverage of the Chevron Case.” Global  Media and Communication, 1(21). 

• Prado, P. & Janbek, D. M. (2013). “Telecenter Web Portals in Latin American and Arab Nations: A comparative analysis.” Journal of Community Informatics, Vol. 9(1). 

• Prado, P.; Camara, M. A.; Figueiredo, M.A. (2011). “Evaluating ICT Adoption in Rural Brazil: A Quantitative Analysis of Telecenters as Agents of Social Change.” Journal of Community Informatics:  Special Double Issue: The Internet and Community Informatics in Brazil, 2010-2011, Vol. 7 (Nos. 1 & 2).  

• Prado, P. (2011). “Lighting up the dark: Telecenter adoption in a Caribbean agricultural community.”  Journal of Community Informatics: Special Issue: Prato Community Informatics Conference: 2011, 6(3).  

• Figueiredo, M.; Câmara, M.; Prado, P.; Albuquerque-Lima, A. M. 2009. “Empowering rural citizen  journalism via Web 2.0 technologies.” Proceedings of the fourth International Conference on  Communities and Technologies, University Park, Pennsylvania, June 2009.

Books & Book Chapters

• Prado, P. & Pinto, J. (2020). “Brazilian Local and National News Coverage of the Samarco Disaster: A  Disaster for the Community, the Corporation or the Environment?” chapter in edited volume in Media, Journalism and Disaster Communities. Einar Thorsen & Jamie Matthews, editors. UK:  Palgrave Macmillan. 

• Prado, P. & Quezada-Grant, A. (2020). "Hold my Piña Colada: Operational and Ethical Considerations  for Interdisciplinary Experiential Learning Study Abroad," chapter in edited volume The  Synergistic Classroom. Corey Campion and Aaron Angello, editors. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers  University Press. 

• Pinto, J., Gutsche, Jr., R. E., & Prado, P. (Eds.). (October 2019). Climate Change, Media & Culture: Critical Issues in Global Environmental Communication. Bingley, UK: Emerald. 

• Pinto, J.G.; Prado, P.; & Tirado-Alcaraz, A. (2017). Environmental News in Latin America: Conflict, Crisis and Contestation. London: Palgrave-MacMillan. 

• Hughes, S. & Prado, P. (2011). “Media Diversity and the Politics of Social Inequality,” chapter in edited  volume in The Great Gap: Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution in Latin America. Merike  Blofield, editor. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.  

• Prado, P. (2010). “The girls of El Seybo: Logging in to a Different Mañana,” chapter in edited volume Girl Wide Web 2.0: Revisiting Girls, the Internet, and the Negotiation of Identity. Sharon  Mazzarella, editor. NY: Peter Lang Publishers.