Jason M. Shepard

Jason M. Shepard, Ph.D., is chair of the Department of Communications and an associate professor at California State University, Fullerton. His primary research expertise is in media law, and he teaches courses in journalism and media law, history and ethics. Shepard’s first book, Privileging the Press: Confidential Sources, Journalism Ethics and the First Amendment, explored the relationship between journalism ethics and law in journalist-source protections. In Ethical Issues in Communication Professions: New Agendas in Communications, Shepard proposed a new agenda for scholars of press freedom and responsibility in the digital era. Shepard has also published research in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, Communication Law and Policy, Journal of Media Law & Ethics, Nexus Journal of Law and Policy, and Drake Law Review, on journalist's privilege law, campaign finance law and digital media law and ethics. Shepard earned his Ph.D. in mass communications with a Ph.D. minor in law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.