Doug Underwood (journalist)
American communications scholar (born 1948)
Douglas Mark Underwood (born April 16, 1948) is an American journalist and media studies scholar. He is a Professor of Communication at the University of Washington.
Underwood's research primarily focuses on journalism in relation to literature, religion, trauma, and newsroom ethics and management. He has authored six books, including Journalism and the Novel: Truth and Fiction, Literary Journalism in British and American Prose: An Historical Overview, Chronicling Trauma: Journalists and Writers on Violence and Loss, When MBAs Rule the Newsroom: How the Marketers and Managers Are Reshaping Today’s Media, and From Yahweh to Yahoo!: The Religious Roots of the Secular Press.
Education
Underwood received his Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Pomona College in 1970, and a Master's degree in Journalism from Ohio State University in 1974. He attended OSU on a University Fellowship while in the Kiplinger Public Affairs Reporting Program.
Career
Underwood has developed and taught classes in political writing, narrative (creative non-fiction) journalism, trauma and journalism, and newsroom ethics and management at the UW Department of Communication since his appointment in 1987. He was a political and investigative reporter for The Seattle Times, the Gannett News Service in Washington, D.C., and the Lansing (Michigan) State Journal. He served as Capital bureau chief in Olympia from 1981 to 1984 and chief political writer for The Seattle Times from 1984 to 1987.
Research
Underwood has worked extensively in the areas of journalism and literature, journalism and trauma, newsroom policies, and media and religion.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Doug Underwood (journalist)” as american communications scholar (born 1948). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american communications scholar (born 1948). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q107570985. VIAF identifies the subject as 54429505. The Library of Congress control number is n92108093. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1970, 1974 and 1987.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Doug Underwood (journalist)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Doug Underwood (journalist) primary sources, Doug Underwood (journalist) archive and Doug research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Doug Underwood (journalist)”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Doug Underwood (journalist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.