Matthew Weber
Professor of Communication
Faculty, PhD COM Faculty
Biography
Matthew Weber’s research examines organizational change and the evolution of media ecosystems in relation to the use of new information communication technologies. He examines organizational change from both an internal and external perspective, focusing on the interaction between macro-and micro-level changes. He has studied organizations in a variety of contexts, focusing extensively on the transformation of the news media industry in the U.S., an analysis of local newspaper ecosystems, research on technology use in large multinational organizations, and work on social movements.
Weber utilizes mixed methods in his work, including social network analysis, archival research, and interviews. He is developing new methodology for using large-scale big data for tracing organizational processes. In addition, he leads a major initiative to map local news media systems, leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to categorize local news and geolocate stories. He has received extensive funding from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, William T. Grant Foundation, Democracy Fund, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Rutgers University and the Knight Foundation.
Weber is currently focused on research examining communities and trust in information, as well as research on local news ecosystems. In addition, Weber is chair of the Computational Methods Division of the International Communication Association, and the chair of the WSTNet Network of Web Science Labs. He has received awards for his research from the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Education
Ph.D., Communication, University of Southern California
M.A., Communication, University of Southern California
M.S., Journalism and Media Management, Northwestern University
B.S., Industrial Engineering and Economics, Northwestern University