Smith-Rodden | Kalish

Martin Smith-Rodden

Assistant Professor of Journalism, Ball State University

Martin Smith-Rodden is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana), where he coordinates the Photographic Storytelling sequence there. For more than three decades he’s been a photojournalist, photo editor and team leader. He holds a Ph.D. in

Applied Psychological Science (2013) from Old Dominion University. While at The Virginian-Pilot in 2011, he was named Photo Editor of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association, among other honors during his time there. In 2022 he was awarded the NPPA’s Robin F. Garland Educator Award.

In the academic realm, his research interests are in advocacy, diversity and intersectionality in the profession, research-based best practices, and 21st Century skills in photographic

storytelling. He was part of a research team who produced the recent State of Photography 2022. His current work continues that research examining areas of agreement and difference between visual editors and photographers, which he will discuss at The Kalish.