UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A respected communications researcher with expertise in areas such as communication policy and regulation, comparative media systems, and rural broadband — an especially important topic in Pennsylvania — has been selected to join the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications as the Pioneers Chair in the Department of Telecommunications.

Christopher Ali, who has testified before Congress about federal broadband policies and authored two books, will join Penn State at the start of the 2022-23 academic year. He previously served as an associate professor at the University of Virginia.

“I cannot be more excited or more proud to be joining the faculty in the Bellisario College and the Penn State community,” Ali said. “The academic reputation of the program and the research credentials of my new colleagues are impressive. I look forward to collaborating and contributing to the continued success of the Bellisario College and the University.”

Ali’s research interests include communication policy and regulation, rural broadband, critical political economy, critical geography, comparative media systems, media localism, and local news. His current research focuses on broadband policy and deployment in the United States, specifically in rural areas.

His latest book, “Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity” (MIT Press, 2021), examines the complicated terrain of rural broadband policy in the United Sates. The book unpacks the politics of broadband policy, asking why millions of rural Americans lack broadband access and why the federal government, and large providers, are not doing more to connect the unconnected. 

“The addition of Christopher Ali continues the tradition of high-quality, research driven experts in our Pioneers Chair,” said Dean Marie Hardin of the Bellisario College. “He’ll be a wonderful colleague and collaborator, a perfect fit — along with experts we already have on topics such as broadband policy — to fulfill Penn State’s land-grant mission. The challenges and issues we’re facing with broadband matter across the commonwealth, and we’re now even better positioned to serve constituencies throughout Pennsylvania.”

Ali has published in numerous internationally ranked academic journals including, Communication Theory, Media Culture & Society and Telecommunications Policy. His work about broadband polity has been published in The New York Times, The Hill and Realtor Magazine. In addition, he is a frequent commentator on the subjects of broadband, media policy and local news, with interviews in The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, NPR, CNET, CBC, Bloomberg, and other major national and international news outlets.

In April 2021, Ali testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on a hearing about federal broadband policies. He also has briefed members of Congress on his research — presenting to the House Democrats’ House Task Force on Rural Broadband. In addition, he has presented before various state governments and initiatives, including the New York State Blue Ribbon Commission on Re-Imagining New York, and the governors’ offices of Illinois and Virginia. 

Ali’s first book, “Media Localism: The Policies of Place” (University of Illinois Press, 2017), addresses the difficulties of defining and regulating local media in the 21st century in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and the implications these difficulties have for the long-term viability of local news.

Ali is currently a Knight News Innovation Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. He also is the vice chair of the Communication Law and Policy Division of the International Communication Association. Previously, he held fellowships at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society (2019-2020), the Global Future Council of the World Economic Forum (2018), the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communications at the University of Pennsylvania (2017), the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University (2016-2017). and the University of Fribourg in Fribourg Switzerland (2015). 

A former Knight News Innovation Fellow, Ali earned his doctorate in communication studies and a master’s degree in communication studies at the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, he completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Alberta before earning a master’s degree in media studies at Concordia University in Montreal.