Andrew Rafferty '09 joined Newsy in June 2018 as senior politics editor after spending nearly nine years at NBC News. There he contributed to the network's political coverage in a variety of forms, including stints at "Meet The Press," the TODAY show and NBCNews.com. In 2012, he covered the presidential election as a campaign reporter, traveling the country to report on the Republican challengers to President Barack Obama. Andrew is a native of Buffalo, N.Y. You can follow him on Twitter @andrewrafferty.
Margaret (Peggy) Finucane, Ph.D. '80 chairs the Tim Russert Department of Communication at John Carroll University. After earning her M.A in Communication Research from the University of Iowa, Peggy joined JCU's Department of Communication as an adjunct instructor. After teaching for several years, she pursued a PhD in Communication from Kent State University. Peggy's research interests focus on interpersonal uses of media. She is currently working on a study of women's co-viewing and social media use while viewing, and a study of college students' use of social media for relational purposes during COVID-19. Peggy teaches the department's internship courses and the Capstone course. Peggy, and her husband Tom '80, raised their children, Dan '07, Joe '09, Katy '10, and Sarah close to campus, in University Heights.
Brent Brossmann, Ph.D. has been on the faculty of the Tim Russert Department of Communication since 1993. He teaches a variety of courses relevant to persuasion, audience, and other dimensions of communication that relate to media and politics. He has analyzed presidential debates for television, radio, and newspaper audiences, and has directed JCU’s nationally competitive speech and debate team for 27 years. He serves the university in a variety of other contexts, including as Chair of the Faculty Council and Director of the Integrative Core Curriculum. He earned his B.A. from Texas A&M, his M.A. from California State University, Fullerton and his Ph.D. from Kansas University.