FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- June 15, 2016 IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Lisa Ellen Silvestri, Ph.D., assistant professor of communication studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA is the winner of the 2016 James W. Carey Media Research Award competition sponsored by the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research (www.cccsir.com). Silvestri is author of the book, Friended at the Front: Social Media in the American War Zone, published in November 2015 by the University Press of Kansas. The Carey Award, established in 2004, is presented annually from among nominated or submitted books or journal articles accepted for publication in the previous year. The award honors the late Dr. James W. Carey (1934-2006). Dr. Carey was recognized as one of the North American pioneers in applying cultural approaches to the study of media technologies. To be worthy of the award, work must be of highest quality and employ Carey's theories to focus on communication and public life, journalism, or popular culture. The winning entry this year was chosen from an exceptionally strong field of works submitted by a long list of outstanding scholars. The book examines how social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have altered the relationships between military personnel and their families and friends at home. Historically, troops in a war zone were exempt from home front relational commitments. In previous U.S. conflicts, and even earlier in Iraq and Afghanistan, a lack of communication with the home front was not only accepted but also expected. Today, U.S. troops have direct, instantaneous connection to civilian life back home and this communication is changing what it’s like to be “at war.” The Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research is a non-profit organization established to promote the scholarship of the late Carl J. Couch and his academic associates. Couch is recognized as the founder of The New Iowa School in sociological and communication inquiry, and was a pioneer in the qualitative research of information technologies. The Center provides networking opportunities for students and scholars who conduct social and Internet research, inspired by Couch's work. - 30 - Contact: Dr. Mark D. Johns, Executive Director Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research c/o Department of Communication Studies, Luther College Decorah, Iowa 52101 USA Tel: (563) 387-1347 email: mjohns@luther.edu