Shane Tilton

Dr. Shane Tilton is an international award-winning scholar and teacher in the field of multimedia journalism, digital culture, and game-based pedagogy. He is the current Irene Casteel Endowed Chair of Education, Professional, and Social Science and an associate professor of Writing and Multimedia Studies at the Ohio Northern University. Tilton was the two-time Advisor of the Year from the Society of Collegiate Journalists with his students winning over 100 regional and national awards from the Broadcast Education Association, Society of Collegiate Journalists, College Media Association, Ohio News Media Association, and the Associated Collegiate Press. It was this work that led him to write “Journalism Breakdown,” a shortlisted book on the changes to journalism over the last decade. His last book, “Meme Life,” was awarded Top Book Honors in Human Communication and Technology from the National Communication Association. His knowledge of digital culture and computer-mediated communication was on display in his interviews with NBC News, ESPN, A/V Club, Wall Street Journal, Wired Magazine, Yahoo! News, the Northeastern Political Review, and various podcasts and other media outlets. His scholarship also earned him the honor to speak at South-by-Southwest twice. Beyond Tilton’s scholarship and pedagogy, it is his service to the field of communication and the media with the Association that earned Tilton the Mass Communication Service Award during the 2018 National Communication Association’s annual conference. In addition, Tilton’s teaching ability was recognized by his peers in the Ohio Communication Association in the form of the 2018 Innovative Teacher of the Year Award. The combination of all of these merits convinced the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers from the City of London to award him the 2018 Young Stationers’ Prize, being the first American in the six century history of the Guild to be given such an honor.

Recent Scholarship:

Tilton, S. (2025). Digital Culture in the Platform Era: Studying influence, celebrity, and superstars online. London, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan. 

Tilton, S. (2024). Systems, Roles, and Coping: A case study of the Hargreeves’ family. In A. Ferchaud (Ed.), The Psychgeist of Umbrella Academy. Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press. p. 143-161

Tilton, S. & Williams, L. (2023). Envy within the Golden Order: Greed’s impact on Elden Ring. In A.M. Bean (Ed.), The Psychology of Elden Ring. Ft. Worth, TX: Leyline Publishing. p. 61-73

Tilton, S. (2022). There is a Difference Between Being Aware and Being Afraid: Journalistic media literacy during the era of COVID-19. In V.S. Katz & B.J. Bond (Eds.), Children and Media Research and Practice during the Crises of 2020. London, UK: Routledge. DOI:10.4324/9781003273998-21

Tilton, S. (2022). Meme Life: The social, cultural, and psychological aspects of memetic communication. Ft. Worth, TX: Leyline Publishing. 

Tilton, S. & Tilton, B. (2022). Team Rocket and The Gaman of a Pokémon Trainer: A case study of chaos and order. In A.M. Bean (Ed.), The Psychology of Pokémon. Ft. Worth, TX: Leyline Publishing.

Tilton, S. (2020). The Journalism Breakdown: Writing multimedia journalism content in the era of changing media systems and economic models. Columbus, OH: CFSC Publishing.

Tilton, S. (2020). A Layover of Food: Understanding Anthony Bourdain’s approach towards describing cultures through culinary interactions and journalism. In C.D. Reinhard, B. Chin, and J.E. Largent (Eds.), Eating Fandom: Intersections between fans and food cultures. London, UK: Routledge.

Recent Awards:

2025 Central States Communication Association (CSCA) Presidential Commendation for Parliamentarian Service

2023 Top Paper for Innovative Presentation Design from the NCA Game Studies Pre-conference

2023 NCA Human Communication and Technology Outstanding Book Award (for “Meme Life”)

Classes Taught:

CAMS 1101: Introduction to Convergent Media
CAMS 1301: Presentational Speaking
CAMS 2001: Media Analysis and Studies
CAMS 2101: News Writing
CAMS 2111 (WAMS 2301): Layout and Design
CAMS 2151: Multimedia Writing
CAMS 2391 (WAMS 3211): Memes and Society
CAMS 3001: Communication Research Methods
CAMS 3111: Editing
CAMS 3121: Convergent Publishing
CAMS 3141: Video Storytelling
CAMS 4121: Computer Assisted Reporting
TREX 1001: Ohio Northern Live
WAMS 1001: Introduction to Writing and Multimedia Studies
WAMS 2201: Digital Newsroom
CAMS 2161: Multimedia Journalism Practicum
CAMS 3171: Multimedia Journalism Internship
CAMS 4181: Multimedia Journalism Capstone
CAMS 4191: Multimedia Journalism Independent Studies