Professor Copeland joined the Elon University School of Communications faculty in 2001. He is the program director of Elon's graduate program in interactive media. In 2006, he was named the Distinguished University Scholar by Elon University, and in 1998, the Virginia Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Professor Copeland is author of a number of books. The latest is The Media's Role in Defining the Nation: The Active Voice, which was released in January 2010. He is the series editor of the 8-volume, 4,500-page Greenwood Library of American War Reporting, which was published in June 2005. In that series, he wrote the book on the French and Indian War and co-authored the volume on the War of 1812 with Carol Sue Humphrey of Oklahoma Baptist University. He is the author ofa number of other books including The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and Its Unruly Legacy, The Antebellum Era, which is part of the 7-volume Debating the Issues series of which he is series editor; Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers; Colonial American Newspapers: Character and Content;Benjamin Keach and the Development of Baptist Traditions in 17th-Century England;and The Function of Newspapers in Society: A Global Perspective, with Shannon Martin of Indiana University. Another book, Mass Communication in the Global Age,with Anthony Hatcher of Elon University, was first published in 2004 and the second edition in 2007.

Professor Copeland worked for seven years in North Carolina as a reporter, photographer, sports editor and news editor for both daily and weekly newspapers. That work earned him sports writing and sports coverage awards from the North Carolina Press Association and recognition from the Associated Press for investigative journalism.

Bachelor of Arts, Wake Forest University (history)

Master of Divinity, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Master of Theology, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (church history)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (mass communication research)

Media history

Capstone in Communications

Editing and Design

Media Writing

Media in a Global Society

Books

Handbook of Digital Media Production: Visual Theory and Practice in an Interactive World. New York, Peter Lang, forthcoming, 2010 (with Brooke Barnett and Harlen Makemson).

The Media's Role in Defining the Nation: The Active Voice. New York: Peter Lang, 2010.

The News Media: A Documentary History. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, forthcoming 2010 (with Wm. David Sloan).

The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and Its Unruly Legacy. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2006.

The French and Indian War. The Greenwood LIbrary of American War Reporting. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005.

The War of 1812. The Greenwood Library of American War Reporting. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005 (with Carol Sue Humphrey).

Mass Communication in the Global Age. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 2004, 2nd. ed. 2007 (with Anthony Hatcher).

The Antebellum Era. Debating the Issues in Newspapers of the Time series. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.

The Function of Newspapers in Society: A Global Perspective. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Press, 2003 (with Shannon A. Martin).

Benjamin Keach and the Development of Baptist Traditions in Seventeenth-Century England. Lewiston, N.Y.: Mellen Press, 2001.

Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000.

Colonial American Newspapers: Character and Content. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.

Book Chapters

"Religion and Journalism in the Colonial Era and the Early Republic." Oxford Handbook of Religion and the News. Edited by Diane Winston. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

"Re-writing and Editing," in The Responsible Reporter, 2nd ed., edited by Bruce Evensen. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.

"The Colonial Press, 1690-1765." In The Media in America: A History, 6th ed. Edited by Wm. David Sloan. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 2005.

"How Powerful Are the Media?" In Contemporary Media Issues. 2nd ed. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 2004 (with Michelle Norman).

"Remembering a Mentor." In Mass Communication Education. Edited by Michael D. Murray and Roy L. Moore. Ames: Iowa State Press, 2003.

“America, 1750-1820.” In The Press , Politics and the Public Sphere in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century Europe and America. Edited by Hannah Barker and Simon Burrows. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

"The Colonial Press, 1690-1765." In The Media in America: A History, 5th ed. Edited by Wm. David Sloan. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 2002.

"The Zenger Trial." In Profiles in Journalistic Courage. Edited by robert Giles, Robert W. Snyder and Lisa DeLisle. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Press of Rutgers University, 2001.

"Religion and the Colonial Press." In Media and Religion in American History. Edited by Wm. David Sloan. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 2000.

"Preserving a Denomination: The Promotion of Women by North Carolina’s Antebellum Baptist Press." In The Press and the Civil War. Edited by David Sachsman, S. Kitrell Rushing and Debra Reddin van Tuyll. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Press of Rutgers University, 2000.

"The Colonial Press." In Three Hundred Years of American Media History. Edited by Lloyd Chiasson. Englewood, Colo.: Morton Publishing, 1999.

"The Early American Press, 1690-1783." In The Age of Mass Communication. Edited by Wm. David Sloan. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 1998.

"Media Effects: Powerful or Minimal." In Contemporary Media Issues. Edited by Wm. David Sloan and Emily Erickson Hoff. Northport, Ala.: Vision Press, 1998.

"'The Mormon Problem' and the Press." In Outsiders in 19th-Century Press History: Multicultural Perspectives. Edited by Frankie Hutton and Barbara Straus Reed. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1995.

Articles

"A Series of Fortunate Events: Why People Believed Richard Adams Locke's 'Moon Hoax,'" Journalism History, 33 No. 3 (Fall 2007): 140-150.

“Setting the Agenda in the Antebellum Era,” 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, 2006, http://www.gale.com/usnewspapers/overview.htm.

"It’s Primary: The Importance of Primary Documents in Conducting Research," Journalism Studies, 7, No 3 (2006): 463-66.

"'Securing the Affections of Those People at this Critical Juncture': Newspapers, Native Americans, and the French and Indian War, 1754-1763." American Journalism 19 (Fall 2002): 37-66.

"United States Press: 18th Century," in Encyclopedia of the World Press, edited by Dennis Griffiths (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, forthcoming).

"The Colonial Press,"in Encyclopedia of the World Press,edited by Dennis Griffiths (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, forthcoming).

"The French and Indian War,”"in Encyclopedia of the WorldPress,edited by Dennis Griffiths (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, forthcoming).

"The Zenger Case." Media Studies Journal (Spring/Summer 2000), 2-7.

"Frederic Hudson," in American National Biography, edited by John A. Garraty (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

"'JOIN, or DIE': The Development of America’s Press during the French and Indian War." Journalism History 24 (1998): 112-21.

"French and Indian War." In History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Margaret A. Blanchard. Detroit: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998.

"Colonial Press." In History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Margaret A. Blanchard. Detroit: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998.

"Reporters and Reporting in the Eighteenth Century." In History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Margaret A. Blanchard. Detroit: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998.

"Fighting for a Continent: Newspaper Coverage of the English and French War for Control of North America, 1754-1760." The Early America Review 1, 4 (Spring 1997): http://earlyamerica.com/review/index.html

"'In All the Papers’: Religious News in Colonial America." American Journalism 13 (1996): 390-415.

"Virtuous and Vicious: The Dual Portrayal of Women in Colonial Newspapers." American Periodicals 5 (1995): 59-87.

"The Perception of African Slaves as Viewed through Colonial Newspapers."Emory & Henry Alumnus Magazine (Winter 1996): 8-9.

"'The Proceedings of the Rebellious Negroes': News of Slave Insurrections and Crimes in Colonial Newspapers." American Journalism 12 (Spring 1995): 1-23.

"'A Receipt Against the PLAGUE': Medical Reporting in Colonial America," American Journalism 11 (Summer 1994): 219-41.

"Jonathan Worth Daniels." In American Newspaper Publishers. Volume 3. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ed. Perry Ashley. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1993.

"Giving Papers: The End of Innocence.”"Clio Among the Media 25 (January 1993): 2, 12.

Edited volumes  (edited as part of book series below)

Mike Conway, The Origins of Television News in America: The Visualizers of CBS in the 1940s, (2009).

Harlen Makemson, Media, NASA, and America's Quest for the Moon, (2009).

Brooke Barnett and Amy Reynolds, Terrorism and the Press: An Uneasy Relationship, (2009).

Mark Brewin, Celebrating Democracy: The Mass-Mediated Ritual of Election Day (2008).

Shannon Martin, Freedom of Information: The News the Media Use, (2008).

Ross F. Collins, World War I (2007).

Amy Reynolds, The Civil War North (2005).

Debra Reddin van Tuyll, The Civil War South (2005).

Ralph Frasca, The Mexican War (2005).

John M. Coward, The Indian Wars (2005). 

W. Joseph Campbell, The Spanish-American War (2005).

Ross F. Collins, World War I  (2005). 

Patrick S. Washburn, World War II, The European Theater, (2005).

Bradley Hamm and Donald L. Shaw, World War II: The Asian Theater (2005).

Douglass K. Daniel, The Korean War (2005).

 Russell J. Cook, The Vietnam War (2005). 

Shannon E. Martin, Post-Vietnam Conflicts (2005).

Brooke Barnett, The Iraq Wars and the War on Terror (2005).

Patricia L. Dooley, The Early Republic (2004).

Ford Risley, The Civil War (2004).

Elizabeth V. Burt, The Progressive Era (2004).

Donna L. Dickerson, The Reconstruction Era (2003).

Carol Sue Humphrey, The Revolutionary Era (2003).

Editorships

Series editor, Greenwood Library of American War Reporting. 8 vols. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005.

Chief editor, Thomson-Gale 19th Century Newspaper Digitization Project, 2005-2007.

Series editor, Peter Lang Mediating American History, 2005-.

Series editor, Debating Historical Issues in Newspapers of the Time. 7 vols. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003 and following.

Editor, Media History Monographs, a refereed, online journal of mass media history.

Editorial Assistant, History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Margaret A. Blanchard. Detroit: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998.

PRESENTATIONS: RESEARCH PAPERS

“A Series of Fortunate Events: Why People Believed Richard Adams Locke's Moon Hoax.” American Journalism Historian Association, Wichita, Kan., October 2006.

“’The Engine Is the Press’: The Shaping of the American Public Sphere, 1770-1833.” American Journalism Historians Association, Pittsburgh, Pa., October 2000.

“Preserving a Denomination: The Promotion of Women by the North Carolina Antebellum Baptist Press.” Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, November 1997.

“‘The Main Source of the Publick Attention’: The Role of French and Indian War Era

            Newspapers in the Development of the American Press.” American Journalism Historians Association, Mobile, Ala., October 1997.

“Fighting for a Continent: Newspaper Coverage of the English and French War for Control of North America, 1754-1760.” American Journalism Historians Association, London, Ontario, October 1996.

“‘Securing the Affections of Those People at This Critical Juncture’: Newspaper Coverage of Colonial-Native American Relations, 1754-1763.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Anaheim, Calif., August 1996.

“Trade, Treachery, and Daily Necessities: The Significance of the Sea to Colonial Newspapers.” American Journalism Historians Association, Tulsa, Okla., September 1995.

“‘The Presence of God Was Much Seen in Their Assemblies’: Religious News in Colonial America.” American Journalism Historians Association, Tulsa, Okla., September 1995.

“Graphic, Shocking, and Violent: Sensational News in Colonial America.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Washington, D.C., August 1995.       

“‘The Proceedings of the Rebellious Negroes’: News of Slave Insurrections and Crimes in Colonial Newspapers.” American Journalism Historians Association, Roanoke, Va., October 1994.

“Virtuous and Vicious: The Dual Portrayal of Women in Colonial Newspapers.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Atlanta, Ga., August 1994.

“‘A Receipt against the Plague’: How Colonial Newspapers Presented Diseases and their Remedies for Their Readers.” American Journalism Historians Association, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 1993.

“‘The Sculking Indian Enemy’: Colonial Newspapers’ Portrayal of Native Americans.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Kansas City, Mo., August 1993.

“For ‘the Prosperity of the Denomination’: Understanding the North Carolina Baptist Press, 1845-1861,” American Journalism Historians Association, Lawrence, Kan., October 1992.

“Covering the Big Story: George Whitefield’s First Preaching Tour, News Manipulation, and the Colonial Press,” American Journalism Historians Association, Lawrence, Kan., October 1992.

“Melancholy Accidents and Deplorable News: Sensationalism and the South Carolina Gazette, 1732-1738,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Montreal, Canada, August 1992.

“Injunctions and Operation Rescue: A Historical Comparison of Incursions into First Amendment Rights.” Southeastern Regional Colloquium of the History, Law, and Newspaper Divisions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Stone Mountain, Ga., March 1992.

“Melancholy Accidents and Deplorable News: Sensationalism and the South Carolina Gazette, 1732-1738,” Southeastern Regional Colloquium of the History, Law, and Newspaper Divisions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Stone Mountain, Ga., March 1992.

“For ‘the Prosperity of the Denomination’: Women and the North Carolina Baptist Press, 1845-1861.” Southern Humanities Council Annual Conference, Chapel Hill, N. C., February 1992.

“The Mormon Problem: The Press Reacts to Mormons, Polygamy and Reynolds v. United States in 1879.” American Journalism Historians Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., October 1991.  

PRESENTATIONS: PANELS AND LECTURES

Presenter for refereed panel on “Copyright, Contracts, and Other Legal Issues for Media Historians,” American Journalism Historians Association, Birmingham, Ala., October 2009.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Working with Edited History Books: Opportunities and Issues for Editors and Authors,” American Journalism Historians Association, Seattle, Wash., October 2008.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Getting the Most Out of Digital Historical Newspapers,” Organization of American Historians, New York, N.Y., March 2008.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Putting the ‘Multi’ into Media History,” American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Richmond, Va., October 2007.

“Of Moon Men, Media, and What We Believe.” Distinguished Scholar Lecture, Elon University, April 2007.

“Research and Primary Document Online Databases.” British American Nineteenth Century Historians Association, Oxford, England, September 2006.

Moderator and Presenter for refereed panel on “Different Wars, Similar Themes.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, August 2006.

“Setting the Agenda in Antebellum America.” Keynote address, Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression. Chattanooga, Tenn., November 2005.

“Writing, Editing, and Publishing Books on Journalism History.” Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression. Chattanooga, Tenn., November 2005.

“Quebec.” Presentation for panel on significant battles that shaped American perspective via media. American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, San Antonio, Tex., October 2005.

“It’s Primary: The Importance of Primary Documents in Conducting Research.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Antonio, Tex., August 2005.

Presenter and moderator for panel on “The Media and War,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Antonio, Tex., August 2005.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Questions of Authorial Identify in Eighteenth Century ‘Chat Rooms,’” paper presented “What’s In a Name? The Significance of Pseudonyms in Colonial Newspaper Letters and Essays,” at the American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Cleveland Ohio, October 2004.

Presenter and moderator for refereed panel on “New Perspectives on the Early American Press,” at the American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Cleveland Ohio, October 2004.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Myth and Media History,” paper presented “From John to Jemmy: Setting the Record Straight on the Colonial Press,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, August 2004.

Presenter for panel on “How to Get Published,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, August 2004.

Moderator for refereed panel, “Images, Criticism and Reporting from the 19th Century,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, August 2004.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Spirits, Heroes, and Song: Popular Culture in the Eighteenth Cenury,” paper presented at the American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Nashville, Tenn., October 2002.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Rethinking Journalism History: The ‘R’ Factor,” paper presented “Holy Lead: Religion, Colonial Printers and Their Newspapers,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Miami, Fla., August 2002.

Presenter for panel on “Publishing in Academic History Journals: The Editors’ Perspectives,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Miami, Fla., August 2002.

Lecture, “The Function of Newspapers: Past, Present and Future,” the Kappa Tau Alpha Lecture, College of Communications and Information Science, University of Alabama, April 19, 2002.

Moderator for refereed panel on “The Multicultural Press of the Early American World,” at the American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, San Diego, Calif., October 2001.

Presenter for panel on “Selecting DissertationTopics, Advising Dissertations, and Writing Dissertations That Quickly Lead to Book Publication,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Washington, D.C., August 2001.

Lecture, “'If I am a Witch, it is more than I know': Witchcraft, the Supernatural, and the Enlightenment in Colonial American Newspapers,” for Magic Meets the Enlightenment, German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C., November 2000.

Presenter for referred panel on “The Prehistory of Public Journalism,” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Pittsburgh, Pa., October 2000.

Presenter for panel on “Publish, Don’t Perish: Editors Discuss How to Choose a Journal, Make Sense of Reviewers’ Comments and Successfully Revise Your Work,” Southeast Colloquium of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chapel Hill, N.C., March 2000.

Moderator and discussant for refereed panel on “The Intersection of Presidents, Policy and Values,” Southeast Colloquium of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chapel Hill, N.C., March 2000.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Innovative Teaching of Mass Communication History,” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Portland, Ore., October 1999.

Presenter, Plenary Teaching Panel, “Crafting Media Credibility and Accountability from Bennett to Hearst, from Lindbergh to Simpson: Journalism’s Role in the Challenges to Media Credibility,” at Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, New Orleans, La., August 1999.

Moderator and presenter for refereed panel on “The Portrayal of Frontier by the Seventeenth-, Eighteenth, and Early Nineteenth-Century Press in America” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Louisville, Ky., October 1998.

Invited lecturer for “American Newspaper Content Prior to 1776,” at Holston Genealogical Society, Bristol, Va., March 1998.

Moderator and discussant for refereed panel on “The Southern Press: Its Development, Influences, and News Coverage” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Mobile, Ala., October 1997.

Invited lecturer for “Native Americans as Viewed through Eighteenth-Century Newspapers,” at Virginia Highlands Festival, Abingdon, Va., August 1997.

Moderator and presenter for refereed panel on “Perceptions of the Colonial Press in America and Canada” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, London, Ontario, October 1996.

Invited lecturer for “Slavery and American Culture in Colonial Newspapers.” History of Print Culture in the South and the Center for the Study of the American South. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C., April 1996.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Lessons the Eighteenth Century Holds for the Twentieth in Media History” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Tulsa, Okla., September 1995.

Presenter for refereed panel on “Breaking the Myths Surrounding the Colonial Press” at American Journalism Historians Association Annual Convention, Roanoke, Va., October 1994.

Distinguished University Scholar, Elon University, 2006.

Phi Kappa Phi.

Excellence in Scholarship Award, School of Communications, Elon University, 2004.

Virginia Professor of the Year, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1998-1999.

Excellence in Teaching Award. Emory & Henry College, 1997-1998.

Excellence in Teaching Award. Emory & Henry College, 1996-1997.

Exemplary Teaching Award. General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Church, 1996-1997.

Citation for Teaching Excellence, Social Sciences, Emory & Henry College, 1996-1997.

Kappa Tau Alpha.Research Paper Award for one of the top papers, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Anaheim, Calf., August 1996.

Outstanding Research Paper Award for the best paper, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Tulsa, Okla., October 1995. $100 award.

Top Faculty Paper, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Washington, D.C., August 1995.

Outstanding Research Paper Award for the best paper, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Roanoke, Va., October 1994. $100 award.

J. William Snorgrass Minorities Research Award for the Outstanding Paper on a Minorities Topic, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Roanoke, Va., October 1994. $100 award.

Annual Research Paper Award for one of the best three papers, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Roanoke Va., October 1994.

Robert Lance Award for the outstanding student paper, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Roanoke, Va., October 1994. $100 award.

Student Paper Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Atlanta, Ga., August 1994.

Edwin Emery Award presented to the top three student papers, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Atlanta, Ga., August 1994. $250 award.

Student Paper Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Kansas City, Mo., August 1993.

Edwin Emery Award presented to the top three student papers, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Kansas City, Mo., August 1993. $250 award.

James L. Morrison Award for the outstanding media history student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, April 1993. $500 award.

Robert Lance Award for the outstanding student paper, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Lawrence, Kan., October 1992.

Edwin Emery Award presented to the top three student papers, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication history division. Winning paper presented at Montreal, Canada, August 1992. $150 award.

Robert Lance Award for the outstanding student paper, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Philadelphia, Pa., October 1991. $100 award.

Annual Research Paper Award for one of the top three papers, American Journalism Historians Association. Winning paper presented at Philadelphia, Pa., October 1991.

S. L. Stealey Church History Award, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC, 1988. Presented for the top research paper in church history.

Paulinos de los Reyes and Joseph Block Greek Prize, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1988. Presented to top student in the study of Greek language.