About
Lila Sanchez-Walker joined the AB Communication & Media faculty in 2019 as Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2024. She is the faculty advisor for Battler Bridge, the AB student newspaper (founded 1928), and the lead developer of AB's rapidly growing podcasting and digital-media curriculum.
Sanchez-Walker was born in San Antonio, Texas, to a Mexican-American mother and a Scottish-American father. She holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Texas at Austin (2018), an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University (2007), and a B.A. (cum laude) in Government and English from Georgetown University (2005).
Before academia she spent eight years as a field producer at CNN — first in the Washington bureau (2007–2010), then as a feature producer for Anderson Cooper 360° (2010–2013), and finally as a senior international producer based in Rome (2013–2015), where she led CNN's coverage of the Vatican and the 2013 conclave. She left CNN in 2015 to pursue her doctorate.
Education
- 2018Ph.D., Mass Communication — University of Texas at Austin. Dissertation: Watching the Vatican: Coverage of the 2013 Papal Conclave and the Construction of Religious Authority in Cable News.
- 2007M.S., Journalism — Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
- 2005B.A., Government & English (cum laude) — Georgetown University.
Teaching
Sanchez-Walker teaches across the COM curriculum — from the gateway media-literacy course to the senior capstone — and runs the AB digital-storytelling and podcast lab.
- COM 105Media & Society (Hilltop Core)A foundational course in media literacy, media history, and the role of journalism in democratic life. Required for all COM majors; popular Hilltop Core elective.
- COM 325Podcasting & Audio StorytellingA junior-level studio course producing a long-form documentary podcast each semester. Student work has placed at three consecutive Edward R. Murrow college awards.
- COM 470Senior Capstone in JournalismA semester-long capstone in which each senior produces a publishable-quality long-form piece of journalism, mentored by working professionals in print, audio, or video.
Research, Journalism & Public Voice
Sanchez-Walker's scholarship sits at the intersection of religion and journalism — particularly the coverage of religious institutions, the framing of religious authority in cable news, and the practice of religion reporting at small regional news outlets. Her first book, Watching the Vatican, expanded from her dissertation, is forthcoming from Columbia University Press in 2027.
She continues to practice journalism: a regular contributor to The Atlantic, America Magazine, and Religion News Service, and the co-host of the WV public-radio podcast The Hilltop Hour, produced in partnership with the AB podcasting lab.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- 2027Watching the Vatican (forthcoming). Columbia University Press.
- 2024"The Small-Town Newsroom That Refused to Die." The Atlantic, November.
- 2023"Cable News and the Construction of Religious Authority." Journal of Communication.
- —Co-host, The Hilltop Hour (WV Public Radio podcast, 2022–present).
- 2025Plenary, AEJMC Annual Convention, "Why Journalism Schools Should Send Students to Small Towns."
Honors & Service
- 2024Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure.
- 2024Edward R. Murrow College Award × 3 (faculty advisor).
- 2022AB Faculty Early-Career Award.
- 2018University of Texas Mass Communication Distinguished Dissertation.
- 2013CNN Producers' Choice Award (Conclave Coverage).
I came to AB because the most important journalism in this country in the next twenty years is not going to be made in Washington or New York. It's going to be made by people who learned to listen in a town of 3,000 people, and stayed long enough to be trusted.— Dr. Lila R. Sanchez-Walker
Beyond the Classroom
Sanchez-Walker lives in Philippi with her wife Megan Walker (an attorney at WV Legal Aid) and their daughter Sofía (kindergarten at Philippi Elementary). She is a Sunday-morning regular at the Italian-style coffee shop on Main Street and the unofficial Spanish translator for the Davis Hospital ED on weekends.
She is a competitive trail runner (she has run the JFK 50-mile twice), a serious cook of Northern Italian and Mexican home cooking, and the founder of the Philippi Italian Cinema Club, which has met monthly at her house since 2021.