Kris Vera-Phillips (she/her/hers) is a media scholar and journalist. She works as an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University, where she teaches media law and ethics. She also taught news producing and multimedia skills classes at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State.
Her research agenda investigates identity, representation and power in media, exploring issues in journalism and popular culture. She looked at the erasure of Filipino nurses from Grey’s Anatomy, questioned the precarious nature of equity and right to life for android officers in Star Trek, and investigated the use of journalistic objectivity in news media when it leaves behind the stories, perspectives and lived experiences of marginalized people.
She earned her Ph.D. in journalism and mass communication from Arizona State. She received her Master of Science in journalism at Northwestern University and her Bachelor of Arts in American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Before academia, Kris worked as an Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than 14 years of experience producing news shows and special projects. Most recently, she worked as a multimedia producer for Capital Public Radio and senior news producer for KPBS San Diego. She served two terms as the Vice President of Journalism Programs for the Asian American Journalists Association. She mentors student journalists with AAJA Voices and PBS NewsHour’s Student Reporting Labs.
Educator
Southern Methodist University – Assistant Professor
Arizona State University – Faculty Associate
Chandler-Gilbert Community College – Adjunct Professor
Butler University – Guest Lecturer
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign – Guest Lecturer
St. Petersburg State University, Russia – Guest Lecturer
Publications
Vera-Phillips, K. (2026). ‘Don’t Risk Your Life’: How BIPOC Journalists Navigate Identity, Newsroom Routines, and Safety in U.S. Broadcast News. Journalism and Media, 7(1), 64. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia7010064
Vera-Phillips, K. (2026). Filipino Nurses, In Tait, J. (Ed.). In Mosaic: Themes in Asian American Studies. Gibbs Smith Education. https://gibbssmitheducation.com/diversity-studies/asian-american-studies
Vera-Phillips, K. (2025). “Control Room Challenge.” Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication 15-1. https://community.aejmc.org/smallprogramsinterestgroup/publications/journals/previous-issues/volume-15-no-1
Vera-Phillips, K. (2025), I Would Rather Die: Postcolonial Analysis of Rebellion Speeches in Star Wars: Andor. J Pop Cult, 58: 267-273. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.70003
Estrada, E., Vera-Phillips, K., Flores-Gonzales, N., Romanello, B., Pasco, M., & Roque, A. (2024). “Symbolic Appropriation of the U.S. Flag: Findings from a Photovoice Study.” American Behavioral Scientist. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764224128426
Kwon, H., Vera-Phillips, K., Moon, Y. E., Shao, C., & Xu, W. W. (2024). Credible, but Not for Me: Immigrant Folk Theories of News Trust in Chinese, Korean, and Filipino Communities in the US. Journalism Practice, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2024.2340526
Vera-Phillips, K. (2022). Southwest, Filipina/x/o Americans in the. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Filipina/x/o American Studies (Vol. 2, pp. 898-900). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071828960
Media Coverage
Hoak, G. (2026, June 22) “Navigating Identity in Broadcast News” with Dr. Kris Vera-Phillips. Informed Reporting interview
Brodie, M. (2024, Oct. 31) How do young Americans see themselves as Americans? ASU researchers try to find out. KJZZ Phoenix. 91.5 FM interview
Peck, G. (2023, Sept. 23) Nurturing diversity in newsrooms and the c-suite. AAJA is on a quest to support and elevate Asian American leaders in news media. Editor & Publisher
ASU Graduate College. Learning how to teach the next generation of journalists
