Focus 25 Research & Consulting

Dr. August E. (“Augie”) Grant is owner and senior analyst for Focus 25 Reseasrch & Consulting. In addition to operating Focus 25, Grant is the J. Rion McKissick Professor of Journalism as the University of South Carolina and Chief Research Office for 1World Online. Grant is chair of the University of South Carolina Faculty Senate and Immediate Past-President of the Broadcast Education Association.

Grant is a technology futurist who is best known for editing Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals, now in its 15^th edition.  Grant specializes in research on new media technologies and consumer behavior. His teaching and research combine the study of traditional and emerging media, with emphases on media management, organizational structure, integrated communication and consumer behavior. He has written numerous journal articles and conference papers dealing with adoption and use of emerging communication technologies, broadband services, audience behavior, and theories of new media. Grant is also one of the most prominent academics working in the field of convergent journalism. He is coeditor of Understanding Media Convergence: The State of the Field and co-author of Principles of Convergent Journalism, both published by Oxford University Press.  His work in media convergence includes founding and serving for five years as Executive Editor of The Convergence Newsletter, chairing twelve national conferences on convergent journalism since 2002, and directing the Newsplex Summer Seminar program to train academics in convergent journalism.