Joseph Michael Stepniewski is a Ph.D. candidate in the Moody College of Communication's School of Journalism and Media. His research interests include the role of empathy in combating misinformation and how effective interpersonal methods of fighting misinformation might be translated to a mass audience, as well as how emerging technologies might contribute to the misinformation environment. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Radio & Television with a minor in Psychology (2012) and a Master of Arts in Mass Communication (2015) from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he taught as an adjunct, Visiting Lecturer, and Visiting Assisting Professor in the College of Liberal & Applied Art's Department of Mass Communication from 2016 to 2023. He looks forward to graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 2027.