Meet David

Associate Professor of Journalism

Education

1999 Asbury University, B.A.
2005 University of Kentucky, M.A.
2015 University of Kentucky, Ph.D.

Courses Taught

Introduction to Journalism
Multimedia Journalism I
First Year Writing

Career Specialties

As both a journalist and an academic, David Wheeler enjoys writing about technology, politics and free speech for some of the nation’s most high-profile news outlets, including CNN, The Atlantic, NBC News and Columbia Journalism Review. His research on the First Amendment is widely cited by legal scholars, including in an amicus brief at the Supreme Court.

Professional and Community Activities

In 2021, Wheeler’s Atlantic article “Do Students Still Have Free Speech in School?” was cited in an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. In the case, the Court ruled 8-to-1 that a Pennsylvania school violated a student’s First Amendment rights by punishing her for an off-campus Snapchat message. The citation of Wheeler’s article in the amicus brief on behalf of the student means Wheeler’s work will always be associated with this major case, and will remain available on the Supreme Court’s website from now on.

Wheeler’s work on the First Amendment has also been cited by The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies, Law and Inequality, Widener Law Review, BYU Law Review, Indiana Law Journal and Free Speech on Campus, a book published by Yale University Press.

Wheeler’s article “Don’t Press the Panic Button Yet: An Analysis of Federal Student Press Law Cases at the University Level” was chosen as the lead article in Volume 54 of College Media Review, the flagship peer-reviewed journal of the College Media Association.

In 2018, Wheeler presented the Hosokawa Distinguished Journalism Lecture at Whitman College in Washington State. His hour-long presentation was titled "Is the First Amendment the New Second Amendment? Calling Hate Speech ‘Free Speech’ and Getting Away With It." Other Hosokawa lecturers have included author Sarah Kendzior, Pulitzer winner Hendrick Smith and Los Angeles Times editor Terry Tang.

On campus, Wheeler currently advises UT’s student newspaper, The Minaret, and co-directs UT’s Master of Arts in Social and Emerging Media.