James G. Webster

    James G. Webster (Ph.D., Indiana University) is a Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. His primary research interest is studying patterns of media consumption. Most of his early work focused on television audience behavior and program choice. Because digital media increasingly allow people to move across platforms, more recent studies have examined patterns of media consumption across technologies. He believes that all forms of media use are best understood within a theoretical framework that accounts for both individual user traits and the structural features of the media environment within which users operate.

    Secondary areas of interest are audience measurement, media industries, and the social impact of new media. He has written, with Prof. Patricia Phalen and Prof. Lawrence Lichty, Ratings Analysis: The Theory and Practice of Audience Research. It is the standard text on electronic media measurement, has been translated into Chinese, and is now in its third edition.

    From 1990 to 2005, Prof. Webster served as Associate Dean in Northwestern's School of Communication where he oversaw facilities planning, graduate education and helped create the doctoral program in Media, Technology and Society. He has been on the editorial board of the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media since 1985 and has served as a consultant to Nielsen, Arbitron, Initiative Media, and the Rudd Center at Yale University.