R. Alan Berry

R. Alan Berry has worked as a media literacy educator, researcher, and advocate for over a decade, and has also worked as a media producer and communications professional in a variety of roles. Formerly, Berry served as a global media and information literacy technical advisor for the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), supporting programs in Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa focused on countering disinformation and promoting democracy. Berry also served as education director for The LAMP, a media literacy nonprofit delivering hands-on learning to diverse audiences across New York City. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali and a Fulbright Research Fellow in Kosovo. Currently, Berry is the Pennsylvania State Advocate for Media Literacy Now, a national legislative advocacy organization, and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network.

Berry received a B.F.A. in Film Production from Watkins College of Art & Design in Nashville, TN, and an M.S. in Media Studies from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in Communication, with a concentration in Education, at the University of Maine. His research interests include mass media, media literacy, media ecology, screen studies, critical pedagogy, participatory education, and the critique of advertising and journalism. His research has been published in the Journal of Media Literacy Education, Teaching Media Quarterly, The Media Education Research Journal, and Javnost – The Public, and he is the author of book chapters in Power Lines: Connecting with Teens in Urban Communities Through Media Literacy (ALA Neal-Schuman, 2022), and, with Judith E. Rosenbaum, in Critical Race Media Literacy: Themes and Strategies for Media Education (Routledge, 2022).

His work can be found at alanberry.net