Dr. Rutledge is the Director of MPRC. With an eclectic background in media production, design, and psychology, Dr. Rutledge uses psychological science to understand how people use and are influenced by media and technology.  She believes that businesses and individuals can apply psychology to create media experiences and content that engage, inform and empower.

Whether research, writing or speaking, Rutledge’s main interest is translating science into strategies and actions, whether that’s decoding audience responses to entertainment or helping people develop a healthy relationship with media. Rutledge has participated throughout media development and distribution, from design and strategy development to audience impact and consumption behaviors, on a number of media projects for clients such as Fox Films, Warner Bros, OWN, and Saatchi & Saatchi and been an expert witness on fandom and fan behaviors.

Dr. Rutledge joins Cyberwise founder Diana Graber for a monthly webinar tackling media literacy and “what parents need to know” about kids, technology and social media. (See pamelarutledge.com/ for information on upcoming events and links to the videos and podcasts of previous episodes.)

As faculty at Fielding Graduate University in the Media Psychology program, she designed courses related to social technologies, brand psychology, audience engagement strategies, storytelling, and positive media psychology.  She was the developer of the Brand Psychology and Audience Engagement Certificate Program, as well as the Positive Media Psychology concentration.

Dr. Rutledge is the Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Media Psychology Review and an Advisory Board Member at UC Irvine Extension, She has authored “Positively Media” on Psychology Today since 2007 and is a frequent expert source for the media on social trends and popular culture related to social media and technology use. She is quoted frequently in publications such as The NY Times, The UK Guardian, Seventeen Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, CAPRICHO, Good Morning America,  ABCnews.com,  Korrespondent,  Men’s Health, Toronto Sun,  and USAToday.

Dr. Rutledge holds a PhD and and MBA. She can be reached at prutledge@mprcenter.org, at http://www.pamelarutledge.com or @drpam on Substack where you can subscribe to her free newsletter.

Defining Media Psychology and Transmedia Storytelling (video interview)