Biographical Sketch of Joanne Cantor, Author of "Teddy's TV Troubles" Joanne Cantor, Professor Emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is an internationally recognized authority on the effects of the mass media on children. She is undisputedly the country's leading expert on the effects of the mass media on children's fears, and she is also well-known for her studies of media violence and her work on TV and movie ratings.
Dr. Cantor has been visible in the national media because of her research on television ratings, her involvement in the National Television Violence Study, and her parenting book, "Mommy, I'm Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do To Protect Them (Harcourt, 1998). She has repeatedly testified before the U.S. House and Senate and the Federal Communications Commission. She is regularly quoted in the national press and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and The Early Show with Bryant Gumbel. Her research has been featured on ABC's 20/20.
Professor Cantor received her B.A. at Cornell University in 1967 and studied communications and psychology at the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1971), and at Indiana University (Ph.D., 1974). In addition to Mommy I'm Scared and Teddy's TV Troubles, she has published more than 80 scholarly articles and chapters and numerous encyclopedia articles on the impact of the mass media. She has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, and the H. F. Guggenheim Foundation, and she has received many awards for her research.
Dr. Cantor has worked with the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National PTA on matters related to children and the media, and she regularly gives lectures to audiences of parents, teachers, students, and medical and child-care professionals. She maintains an informational Web site (www.joannecantor.com), and lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and teenage son.