Katharine E. Heintz (PhD., University of Illinois, 1992), currently a lecturer in the Communications Department at Santa Clara University, is a media analyst, researcher, and educator specializing in the impact of electronic media on children and families. Until 2007, she was Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Previously, she spent seven years at the University of Washington, where she was an Assistant Professor in the School of Communications. Her work has been featured in over a hundred newspapers nationwide, including the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and USA Today, as well as in national magazines, such as Parents Magazine, Parenting, and TV Guide. She has appeared on local television and radio programs as well as the National Public Radio programs “On the Media” and “Media Matters.” She is President of Children's Media Research and Consulting, a firm which works with non-profit organizations interested in children and media. She also serves as a research consultant to Children Now, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and the National Partnership for Women and Families.