Derek Moscato, PhD

Associate Professor

About

Ph.D., Media Studies, University of Oregon; M.Sc., Journalism, University of Kansas; B.A., History, Western University.

Moscato is an associate professor in the department of journalism, where he teaches classes in news media, public relations, and environmental communication. Additionally, Moscato has taught in the Canadian-American (C/AM) Studies program, the Honors Program, as well as the Salish Sea Institute at Western. He is a Research Fellow with Western's Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI); and a Faculty Affiliate with the Salish Sea Institute and C/AM Studies. 

Moscato's teaching and research lies on the intersection of persuasion, global media systems, and ecological communication. In addition to WWU's department of journalism, Moscato has taught media and communication courses at the University of Oregon and Douglas College. 

Previous to academia, Moscato held communication and marketing leadership roles at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, and the British Columbia Lung Association. He was also a weekly opinion-page columnist for Vancouver Metro and The Province; and a business journalist, focused on urban economics and global capital markets. A past Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication Scholar, Derek’s research is driven by the workings of global communication flows, political economy of media, and environmental persuasion.

Current Courses

J397M: Canadian-American Media Systems

E412: Environmental Journalism

J480: Senior Media Research Seminar

H352: Hockey's Political Economy and Public Diplomacy

J407: Public Relations Cases

J397I: Environmental PR and Advocacy

J330: Public Relations Principles

H351: Arctic Media: News, Culture, and Diplomacy

S490: Salish Sea Community Seminar

Selected Publications

Moscato, D. and Valencia, R. (2023). Global Narratives of Ecological Modernization: The Construction of Climate Change Op-eds in China Daily and the New York Times. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 

Moscato, D. (2022). Dirt Persuasion: Civic Environmental Populism and the Heartland's Pipeline Fight. U of Nebraska Press.

Moscato, D. (2022). “The ritual of the Bering Sea: Commodity, country, and mortality in the Deadliest Catch.” In Persevering During the Pandemic: Communication, Creativity, and Connection.

Moscato, D. (2021). Ichiro the Public Diplomat: Professional Sport as Cultural Intermediary in Configuring US-Japan Relations. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 16(1), 82-104.

Bowe, B. J., Moscato, D., & Alkazemi, M. F. (2021). An appeal to shared values: framing and moral persuasion in the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ press releases. Journal of Public Relations Research, 33(1), 39-57.

Valencia, R. J., & Moscato, D. (2021). Navigating# ObamainCuba: how Twitter mediates frames and history in public diplomacy. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 17(2), 168-179.

Moscato, D. (2020). Aerial Activism in Old-Growth Rainforest: The Ancient Forest Alliance’s Drone Videography as Spatial Communication. The local and the digital in environmental communication, 33-48.

Moscato, D. (2020). The Amplification of Polar Diplomacy: A Textual Analysis of Arctic Council Declarations. Arctic Yearbook.