Sarah Oates

Sarah Oates is a Professor and Senior Scholar at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the

University of Maryland, College Park. As a political scientist, her work focuses on the ways in

which the media can support or subvert democracy in places as diverse as Russia, the United

States, and the United Kingdom. Oates has published many books, articles, chapters, and papers

on topics ranging from how the internet can challenge dictatorship to how national media

systems cover terrorism in distinctive ways. Her most recent work focuses on how Russian

propaganda can infiltrate American news. A former journalist, she has lived and taught in the

United States, Scotland, and Russia. She was designated a University of Maryland Distinguished

Scholar-Teacher in 2021.