UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Award-winning journalist and podcaster Katie Thornton will participate in a question-and-answer session about the changing landscape of journalism, the growth of podcasts and more during a visit to Penn State's University Park campus in late September.
The free public session begins at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in 121 Sparks Building. Respected Penn State faculty member Katie O’Toole, an award-winning journalist herself, will moderate the session.
Thornton earned the 2025 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism for a podcast series focused on shortwave radio. “The Divided Dial: Season 2” was a four-episode series from “On The Media” that followed shortwave radio from its little-known and influential history to its resurgence among a variety of niche audiences.
The nationally competitive Bart Richards Award is presented annually by the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State.
The winning podcast series focused on the creation and science of the shortwave radio as well as its adoption, growth, success, anticipated demise and even its resurgence among certain audiences. Along with the reporting and research, the series included a trove of audio clips that heightened interaction and provided historical context.
Thornton is an award-winning freelance audio and print journalist. She has published with the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, the Atlantic, the Guardian, the BBC, NPR, WNYC, Minnesota Public Radio, 99% Invisible, and many others, and received a prestigious Fulbright-National Geographic Fellowship for her storytelling work.
She is especially interested in long-form, historically informed reporting that shows how infrastructure and communications technologies impact the daily lives and deeply held beliefs of Americans. She spent years working behind the scenes at small radio stations and radio-related organizations, which has influenced her interest in, and admitted soft spot for, the medium. Thornton’s work previously earned the Bart Richards Award in 2022 and 2024.