Paola Prado, Dept. Chairperson

Contact Information

Phone: x3546
Office: GHH 326
pprado@rwu.edu
Skype: pradomedia
Twitter: @pradomedia

Education

B.A. Denison University M.A. Georgetown University Ph.D. University of Miami

Dr. Prado teaches courses in journalism, digital media production and the First Amendment. Her research focuses on the adoption of information and communication technologies for development and social change in Latin America. Prado has authored journal articles and book chapters on topics related to digital inclusion, media diversity, and environmental risk news reporting in Latin America. She is co-author of Environmental News in South America: Conflict, Crisis and Contestation in the Palgrave Studies in Media and 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.

Fluent in four languages, energetic, articulate and engaging with colleagues and students alike, Dr. Prado embodies many of those qualities that are the foundation of our university’s values for an education that is transformative, engaged, experiential, inclusive and innovative.

Courses Taught:

Broadcast News
Journalism & Society
Journalism Capstone
Mass Media Law and Ethics

Research Agenda
Information and communication technologies for development, multimedia journalism, environmental and social justice news reporting, Latin American and Latino media.

Affiliations
International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Latin American Studies Association, and Eastern Communication Association (ECA)

Publications and Papers

Books & book chapters

• Pinto, J.G.; Prado, P.; & Tirado-Alcarraz, 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 Manaña,” 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.

Peer-reviewed publications

• Prado, P. (2017). “Mapping citizen journalism and the promise of digital inclusion: A perspective from the global south.” Global Media and Communication, 2(2), 174276651769492-174276651769492.
• Prado, P.; Tirado-Alcarraz, 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-Alcarraz, 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.