albert l. may
Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs
Phone: (202) 994-9014
Fax: (202) 994-5806
E-mail: almay@gwu.edu
Office: MPA 417
Expertise
News Coverage of Government and Politics on the Local, State and National Levels.
Courses Taught
SMPA 112, Advanced Reporting
SMPA 132, Campaign Reporting
SMPA 134, Washington Reporting
SMPA 196, Independent Study
SMPA 197, Internship
SMPA 199, Senior Seminar
Selected Works
May, Albert L., “Political Reporters,” Encyclopedia of Journalism, edited by Christopher H. Sterling, (New York: Sage, 2009), 1083-1090.
May, Albert L., “The Preacher and the Press: How the Jeremiah Wright Story Became the First Feeding Frenzy of the Digital Age,” in Campaigning For President 2008, Strategy and Tactics, New Voices and New Techniques, edited by Dennis W. Johnson, (New York: Routledge, 2009), 78-100.
May, Albert L., “Campaign 2008: It’s On YouTube,” Nieman Reports, The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, Summer 2008.
May, Albert L. "First Informers in the Disaster Zone: The Lessons of Katrina," The Aspen Institute, 2006.
May, Albert L. "Swift Boat Vets in 2004: Press Coverage of an Independent Campaign," First Amendment Law Review, University of North Carolina School of Law, Vol. 4, Fall 2005.
May, Albert L. "The Virtual Trail: Political Journalism on the Internet," a study of how the Internet has changed the coverage of political campaigns, 2002.
Background
Albert L. May joined the faculty of the School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) in 1997, after 23 years as a newspaper reporter and editor. He has specialized in news coverage of government and politics, and he served as SMPA’s director of journalism from 1998 to 2005.
Before joining the faculty, Prof. May was the government and public affairs editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, overseeing state and local government and political coverage. He also was as a national political reporter and the state capitol bureau chief.
Previously, he was the Washington correspondent and the chief capitol correspondent for the News and Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. He began his newspaper career as a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Prof. May has won several writing, editing and teaching awards, including a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University and the George Washington University's Morton A. Bender Teaching Award.
Education
M.A., Journalism, University of Missouri at Columbia, 1974
M.A., Political Science, University of Missouri at Columbia, 1973
B.A., History, University of Missouri at Columbia, 1970