Christopher Tuohey

Online Instructor | MDIA | Associate Professor Emeritus, Broadcast & Digital Journalism

S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Chris Tuohey has been involved in journalism both in the newsroom and in the classroom for more than four decades. His experience crosses broadcast, video, print, online and social media platforms.

Tuohey worked in broadcast journalism as an executive producer, newscast producer, and reporter. He has worked at WJW-TV, WKYC-TV and WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio; WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio; and WGGB-TV in Springfield, Mass. He is an Emmy Award winner for producing coverage of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opening in Cleveland.

Tuohey brought that professional experience to Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications where he achieved tenure and served as the Broadcast & Digital Journalism Department chair and Director of the school’s Military Motion Media program. While he enjoys teaching students at all levels, he found teaching active-duty military students particularly rewarding because of their life experience as “non-traditional students.”

While Tuohey retired from being a full-time Newhouse faculty member in 2024, he has not retired from teaching. He is honored to be asked to teach Media Ethics and Law in the College of Creative Arts and Media’s Online Program at West Virginia University.

Ethics and Law continue to evolve on an almost daily basis in American media. Tuohey believes that’s what makes this kind of class both a challenge and extremely necessary, and one of his favorite classes to teach. He finds his professional experience comes in handy when discussing real world communications ethics and law issues, from privacy to libel and everything in between.

Evolving technology has created new law and ethics issues since the dawn of communications. In the 21st century we now have the use of AI, “deep fakes,” and social media disinformation campaigns and there will certainly be more issues to follow. Tuohey believes determining how traditional ethics and law principles fit into this new world is critical, as tomorrow’s communicators set their own ethical compasses.

In addition to his teaching background, Tuohey has also written for outlets like American Journalism Review and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Tuohey earned an MA in Journalism from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and a BS in Speech from Emerson College in Boston.

Having recently relocated to Morgantown, Tuohey travels the state of West Virginia on research trips with his wife Christy (a West Virgina native).