Rojas, Hernando

Hernando Rojas is the Helen Firstbrook Franklin Professor of Journalism in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, affiliated with the Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies program and Global Studies. His scholarship focuses on political communication, in particular examining: (a) the deployment of new communication technologies for social mobilization in a variety of contexts; (b) the influence of audience perceptions of media (and audience perceptions of media effects) on both public opinion and the structure of the public sphere; and (c) the conditions under which media support democratic governance.

This focus is reflected in his teaching, which includes SJMC 565: Media Effects, SJMC 614: Public Opinion, SJMC 658: Research Methods, SJMC 830: International Communication and SJMC 880: Digital Media, Everyday Life and Political Action. He has authored 4 books and over 60 articles and book chapters. His research has won awards from the International Communication Association (ICA), the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) and the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).

Rojas currently serves as Co-Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Public Opinion Research and multiple editorial boards. He has held leadership positions in professional associations including AEJMC, ICA and WAPOR. Rojas holds courtesy research affiliations with the Colombian Center for Political Communication Research and the Singapore Internet Research Center. Rojas received his doctorate in Mass Communication in 2005, from the University of Wisconsin, and has an MA, also in Mass Communication, from the University of Minnesota, and a Law degree for Universidad Externado de Colombia.

His professional background includes: (a) media publisher; (b) consultant to the United Nation’s Development Program; (c) public opinion consultant; (d) consultant for Public Radio, Public Television and the National Center for Outreach in the United States.