Jeff Hunter joined the Department of Journalism and Media Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences in August 2023 as an assistant professor of strategic communication. Hunter grew up in Lockney, Texas, a small cotton-farming community in the Texas Panhandle but spent time up traveling all over New Mexico and it has always felt like his second home.
“My research revolves around communication with and among rural audiences, so a land-grant university seemed like a natural fit,” Hunter said. “There was also a fun family connection – my grandfather who is from Clayton, New Mexico, attended NMSU during the Dust Bowl years.”
Hunter teaches advertising and public relations to students in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. On a typical day, he prepares and delivers lectures, leads class discussions, develops assignments and assessments, and provides students with feedback on their writing, creative projects, campaigns, presentations and research. He also helps students understand how communication research, audience analysis, branding, media trends, ethics and persuasion inform successful campaigns.
“A significant part of my work also involves research and scholarly writing,” Hunter said. “My research focuses on communication to and among rural audiences, with particular attention to political communication, disaster and crisis communication and the ways communication helps form, sustain and define community. I am especially interested in how people in rural areas receive information, make sense of public issues, respond to emergencies and build shared identities and connections through media and interpersonal communication.”
Over the past three years, Hunter has helped the department expand its experiential learning and created interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students. He is the founding advisor for CrimsonWire.org, a student-run digital news outlet, and has helped co-create Desert Light Creative, a student-run advertising and creative agency. He also helped establish a media entrepreneurship class with faculty in the Creative Media Institute to provide both departments’ future media professionals with the tools and skills needed to blaze new trails in an unpredictable industry.
“I am proud of the interdisciplinary connections made with the Creative Media Institute,” Hunter said. “Whether a student is studying to be a journalist, public relations professional, advertiser, filmmaker, animator or creative writer—they are all storytellers. Through my teaching and research, I aim to help students become thoughtful, ethical, and effective communication professionals while contributing research that better represents rural people and communities.”
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