The American Journalism Historians Association has announced Robin Sundaramoorthy as the winner of the 2025 Margaret A. Blanchard Dissertation Prize.
The Blanchard Prize, awarded first in 1997, recognizes the best doctoral dissertation dealing with mass communication history. Three other scholars received honorable mentions for their dissertation work from the AJHA Blanchard Prize Committee.
Sundaramoorthy’s dissertation, "Black Radio Ownership and the FCC's Failed Attempt to Diversify the Airwaves," was completed under the direction of Linda Steiner at the University of Maryland.
"This year's nominees included a competitive group of scholars and an interesting selection of topics. On behalf of the AJHA Blanchard Prize Committee, I congratulate this year's winner and finalists—the best of the group,” said committee chair Pete Smith. “We look forward to seeing their research presentations at the AJHA conference in Long Beach.”
“I am incredibly honored that my dissertation won the AJHA Margaret A. Blanchard Doctoral Dissertation Prize. Radio has been called 'the background sound of our lives,' but for far too long, African Americans and other marginalized groups of people were denied the chance to have their voices heard on the airwaves,” said Sundaramoorthy. “While the FCC effort to increase minority broadcast ownership failed, at least nine African Americans were able to benefit from this rule. They all faced significant challenges—limited access to capital, racism, sexism—but they loved working in the industry, and they used their stations to uplift and empower their communities. Who owns the media matters. I hope my research brings some much-needed attention to issues surrounding media ownership and representation in broadcasting.”
Holly Swenson, a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Northwestern University, received an honorable mention for her dissertation "Cultural Commerce: How Media Exports Made the British World in Australia, 1850–1990,” written under the direction of Deborah Anne Cohen at Northwestern University. 
“As a British historian working across the fields of imperial history, business history, and media history, I am particularly proud to be recognized as a Blanchard Prize honorable mention,” Swenson said. “I am gratified that my work, which seeks to explain how the business of media export from Britain to Australia cemented the cultural links of empire, is both legible to and impactful among scholars of mass media and communication history. I look forward to engaging more with the community of the AJHA in the future!”
Robert O'Sullivan, a postdoctoral teaching fellow at the University of Notre Dame, was honored for his dissertation, “Revolutionary Nationalism, Imperialism and Anti-Slavery in the Trans-National Irish-American Press, 1840-1865," completed under the direction of Gary Gerstle at the University of Cambridge. 
“I am delighted that my PhD dissertation has been judged an honorable mention of the 2025 AJHA Margaret A Blanchard Doctoral Dissertation Prize,” O’Sullivan said. “It is a great privilege that my research has received this accolade.”
Karlin Andersen Tuttle, an instructor at Penn State University, received an honorable mention for her dissertation, "Your Trusted Friend: Untold Histories of Five Christian Women’s Magazines, 1974-2023," written under the direction of Ford Risley at Penn State University. 
“Studying religious media history—and the intersection of women’s roles in that history—is an interdisciplinary task that makes finding space in academic conferences and journals challenging. My research is often seen as not contemporary enough for general media studies, not theoretical enough for gender studies, and not theological enough for religious studies,” Andersen Tuttle said. “From my first conference, AJHA provided a warm welcome for my interests and connections to scholars asking similar questions. I share this recognition with the many AJHA members whose valuable feedback and encouragement helped shape this project. The range of Blanchard honorees this year demonstrates how multifaceted our field is and I am thrilled to be recognized among such company.”
All four scholars will present their research on the Blanchard Dissertation Award Panel at the AJHA National Convention in Long Beach, California from September 25-27, 2025.
