School of Communication Faculty

John Patrick McHale is committed to writing drama that celebrates the divine potential of people as revealed in dramatic crisis scenarios, in genres including action, drama, and comedy. McHale has written 7 produced films, directed 5 films, produced 9 films, executive produced over 20 films, and has received 8 awards for his film work.

Most recently, McHale won the 2012 Grand Prize for Short Film Writing (Under 90 minutes) for his television dramatic program pilot episode of The Last Exit to Normal from Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival, competing with over 350 entries. McHale won awards for his 2012 feature dramatic film screenplay Death Row Joe from the Las Vegas Film Festival and the Emergent Scriptwriters Competition. Also of note, McHale wrote, directed, produced the awarding winning Picture This: The Fight to Save Joe, narrated by Danny Glover, which was an important catalytic factor in Joe Amrine’s release from Missouri death row in 2005. McHale has written 4 unproduced feature film screenplays.

McHale is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. McHale has taught at a number of institutions, including Yale, Princeton, Stanford, University of Missouri, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and Northwestern University. McHale has earned six university degrees from institutions such as New York University, Columbia, Southern Illinois University, and University of Missouri-Columbia.

McHale is also the recipient of several awards, including the Walter Cronkite Civic Engagement Leadership Award FYI at the United Nations in New York in 2006. 

McHale, J. P. (Ed.). (2013). Crafting Messages in a Multimodal Communicative Environment: Readings on Convergent Writing. Kendall-Hunt Publishing; Dubuque, Iowa.

McHale, J. P. & Straub, G. T. (2013). Light, Camera, Conscience, and Soul: Creating documentaries that make a difference. Pax et Bonum Communications: Los Angeles.

Alioto, T. & McHale, J. P. (Under Review). Saintly Sex: John Paul II, Gender, Sex, and the Catholic Church.

McHale, J. P. (Ed.). (2013). Multi-Modal Media Writing: Readings on crafting convergent media messages (2^nd Ed.). Self-Published: Available Online: Righteous Publishing: Normal, IL.

McHale, J. P. (2012). Convergent Media Writing: Telling a Good Story Well. (2^nd Ed.). Kendall-Hunt Publishing; Dubuque, Iowa.

McHale, J. P. (2011). Mass Media Writing: Telling a Good Story Well. Kendall-Hunt Publishing; Dubuque, Iowa.

McHale, J. P., & Alioto, A. (Under review). Saintly Spin: The Image Restoration Enactments of Pope John Paul II.

McHale, J. P. (2004). Communicating for Change: Strategies of Social and Political Advocates. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. 

Benoit, W. L., McHale, J. P., Hansen, G. J., Pier, P. M., & McGuire, J. P. (2003). Campaign 2000: A functional analysis of presidential campaign discourse.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Benoit, W. L., Kluykovski, A. A., McHale, J. P., Pier, P., & Airne, D. (2001). The primary decision: A functional analysis of presidential primary debates, 1948-2000. Westport, CN: Praeger.

McHale, J. P., Zompetti, J. P., & Moffitt, M. A. (2008). A Nike, International Labor Standards, and Public Relations: A Hegemonic Analysis. In R. R. Mathur (Ed.), Public Relations: An ethics engagement. India: ICFAI University Press.

McHale, J. P. (2007). Using Documentary to Promote Justice. In L. Frey and K. Carragee (Eds.), Communication Activism. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Benoit, W. L. & McHale, J. P. (2004). Presidential candidates’ personal qualities: Computer content analysis.  In K. L. Hacker (Ed.), Presidential candidate images: Issues of theory and measurement (Chapter 2). Westport, CT: Praeger.

PUBLICATIONS: JOURNALSMcHale, J. P., Zompetti, J. P., & Moffitt, M. A. (2007).A hegemonic model of crisis communication: Truthfulness and repercussions for free speech in Nike v. Kasky. Journal of Business Communication, 44, 374-402.

Benoit, W. L. & McHale, J. P. (2003). Presidential candidates’ television spots and personal qualities. Southern Communication Journal, 68, 319-334.

McHale, J. P., Hunt, S. & McHale, K. P. (2003). Communication Teaching, Mass Media Theory, and Consumer Ideology: The pedagogical necessity to identify a worldview. Journal of the Illinois Speech and Theater Teachers Association, 73.

Benoit, W. L., Kluykovski, A. A., McHale, J. P., & Airne, D. (2001). A fantasy theme analysis of political cartoons in the Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr affair.  Critical Studies in Media Communication, 18, 377-395.

McHale, J. P. (2001). Review of D. Demers & K. Viswanath’s Mass media, social control, and social change.  Southern Journal of Communication, 66, (2), 180-181. 

Benoit, W. L. & McHale, J. P. (1999). Kenneth Starr’s image restoration attempts viewed in 20/20. Communication Quarterly, 47, 265-280.