Department of Communication

Contact and Overview

Email Address

moodycs1@appstate.edu

Office Hours

Monday: 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Schedule an Appointment

Education

B.A., Political Science, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Curriculum Vitae

Website/Social Media

LinkedIn

X

Teaching

Currently Teaching (Spring 2025)

COM 2610 News Reporting and Writing
COM 3304 Electronic Media Performance Techniques
COM 3600 In-Depth Reporting and Writing

Courses Taught

COM 1300 Journalism Matters: An Introduction to News Literacy and News Writing
COM 2610 News Reporting and Writing
COM 3304 Electronic Media Performance Techniques
COM 3320 Audio-Video Production

Teaching and Research Specialties

Political journalism
Reporting on the environment and public lands
Multi-platform journalism

Projects

• Associate Producer, “How to Sue the Klan,” a documentary about the legal effort in Tennessee to dismantle hate groups (2024)
• Writer and Host, “Finding Matt Drudge,” an iHeartMedia long-form narrative podcast (2024)

Publications

• “More journalists are leaving big cities—and finding America,” Columbia Journalism Review, August 30, 2024. https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/more-journalists-are-leaving-big-cities-and-finding-america.php
• “The lawyer who fights for people’s right to grow ‘weeds’,” The Washington Post, July 25. 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2024/07/25/lawyer-helps-people-fighting-weed-ordinances/
• “They Lived in a Van. Here’s Their Advice for Small Space Living,” The Washington Post, December 21, 2023 https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/12/21/design-small-space-van-lifers/
• “Life Really Is Better without the Internet,” The Atlantic, November 27, 2023 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/home-internet-landline-amazon-smartphone/676070/
• “Thousands of teen boys are being extorted in sexting scams,” The Washington Post, October 2, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2023/10/02/teen-boys-sextortion/
• “The Rise — and Beauty — of the Native Plant,” The Washington Post Magazine, April 4, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/04/04/native-plants-climate-change/
• “Desert monks dedicated to hospitality reflect on two years without guests,” The Washington Post, January 22, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/monks-in-new-mexico-desert-dedicated-to-hospitality-reflect-on-two-years-without-guests/2022/01/21/bbe4a932-6f35-11ec-b9fc-b394d592a7a6_story.html
• “How Critical Race Theory Overran the Southern Baptist Convention,” New York Magazine, June 16, 2021 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/critical-race-theory-divides-the-southern-baptist-convention.html
• “Some Asked, ‘Does Chattanooga Need a Lynching Memorial?’” The New York Times, September 17, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/arts/design/meadows-chattanooga-lynching-memorial.html
• “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Living Nowhere,” The New Republic, March 30, 2021. https://newrepublic.com/article/161807/van-life-nomadic-living-housing-affordability
• “The Survival of a Southern Baptist Who Dared to Oppose Trump," CNN State Magazine, June 2017. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/politics/state/russell-moore-donald-trump-southern-baptists/
• “Bernie Sanders’ American Dream Is in Denmark,” CNN, February 17, 2016. https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/politics/bernie-sanders-2016-denmark-democratic-socialism/index.html
• “How the GOP used Twitter to stretch election laws,” CNN.com, November 18, 2014. https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/17/politics/twitter-republicans-outside-groups/index.html

Recent Awards

• 2024 - Awards for “How to Sue the Klan: The Legacy of the Chattanooga Five”
  • Best Documentary, NC Black Film Festival, May 18
  • Best Short Doc, Harlem International Film Festival, May 26
  • Best Short Doc, Roxbury International Film Festival, June 28
  • The Andrew Young Cinema and Social Justice Award, BronzeLens Film Festival, August 25
• 2019 - Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship Award: “Freedom on the Fringes: A 35,000-mile Journey in Search of a More Meaningful American Dream.”
• 2017 - Radio Television Digital News Association Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN’s Social Media Coverage of the 2016 Presidential Election
• 2017 - Webby Award for CNN’s 2016 Election Night Coverage