Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah

Education

Ph.D. University of New Mexico

M.Phil. The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

M.A. University of Peshawar

About Me

Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah is an associate professor and Graduate Program Officer in the School of Communication & Journalism at Auburn University. He teaches courses in reporting, multimedia journalism, global journalism, health and science reporting, and qualitative research methods.

His research examines journalistic practices across cultures and nations, with a particular focus on journalists’ safety and mental well-being, professional identity, threats to journalism as an institution, and the implications of emerging technologies for journalism. His research also examines how journalism and communication can contribute to reducing health disparities among marginalized communities across different cultural contexts. His scholarship has appeared in journals such as Digital Journalism, Journalism, Journalism Studies, and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, as well as health-focused journals including Vaccine and Health Communication.

Before entering academia, Shah worked as a journalist for nearly a decade with local, national, and international media organizations. His reporting covered war, ethnic and religious conflicts, crime, education, health, and climate-related issues.

Shah is Book Review Editor for News Research Journal, a member of the editorial boards of Communication Teacher and Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, and co-chair of the Health Communication Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

Research Interests

Journalistic practices and professional identity; journalist safety, mental health, and well-being; threats to journalism as an institution; emerging technologies in journalism; health and science communication

Publications

Books

Shah, S.F.A, Ginossar, T. (Eds.). (2025). “Health and science journalism in the 21st century: Emerging practices during crises.” Lexington.

Ginossar, T., Shah, S.F.A, Weiss, D. (Eds.). (2023). “Vaccine communication online: Counteracting misinformation, rumors, and lies.” Springer Nature.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Shah, S. F. A., & Perreault, G. P. (2026). Everyone is a War Reporter: Field Theory and Wellbeing Capital in Conflict Journalism. Journalism Practice, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2026.2630178 

Shah, S. F. A., Joyce, T. A., Murphy, B. E., Cunningham, B., & Perreault, G. P. (2026). Wearing many hats: How rural U.S. newspaper journalists negotiate professional identity amid digital and economic disruption. Journalism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849261465186 

Qusien, R., Shah, S. F., & Sastry, S. (2026). Media framing of climate and health in Pakistan: analysis of floods 2022 news coverage. Global Perspectives in Communication, 1(3), wpag012. https://doi.org/10.1093/gpcomm/wpag012 

Ashraf, S. I., & Shah, S. F. A. (2026). The geopolitical architecture of impunity: Violence against journalists in Pakistan’s Pashtun periphery. Media, War & Conflict, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/17506352261420273 

Shah, S. F. A., & Malinowski, N. (2025). “I feel disgusted”: Experiences of moral injury and its impact on the well-being of conflict journalists. Journalism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849251387949 

Shah, S. F. A., Archiwal, A., & Hussain, S. (2025). Journalism in Chains: A Field Theory Approach to Understanding the Lived Experiences of Afghan Journalists. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 102(3), 642-667. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241304416 

Hussain, S., Shah, S. F.A., & Bostan, H. (2025). Analyzing Hateful Comments against Journalists on X in Pakistan. Journalism Studies, 26(10), 1187–1207. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2025.2492734 

Shah, S. F. A., Cvetkovic, I., Ginossar, T., Ullah, R., Baber, D., & Slaughter, A. (2024). Online Harassment, Psychological Stressors, and Occupational Dysfunction among Journalists Working in a Conflict Zone. Digital Journalism, 12(6), 735–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2024.2308582

Courses Taught

JRNL 2310: Reporting

JRNL 3100: Global Journalism and Media Systems

JRNL 3510: Multimedia Journalism

JRNL 4970: Health and Science Reporting (Special Topics)

COMM 7010: Qualitative Methods of Communication Research