Rebecca J. “Becky” Tallent joined the JAMM faculty in summer 2006 as a full-time, tenure-track professor. Becky is an award-winning journalist and public relations specialist with more than 12 years experience as an energy, environmental and financial journalist, plus an additional 18 years experience as a public relations specialist, primarily with state government agencies. In addition to her UI teaching, Becky was the ombudsman for the Spokane Spokesman-Review in 2008 and is a member of the UI American Indian Studies faculty.

Becky is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Native American Journalists Association (she is of Cherokee heritage), and she is the advisor to both students groups on campus. Becky is also a member of the SPJ National Education and Diversity committees. In 2013 she was elected to the national SPJ Board of Directors as a Campus Advisor at Large. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and her Master of Education in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma and her Doctor of Education in Classroom Teaching/Mass Communications from Oklahoma State University in 1995. As part of her continuing education, Becky attended the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in the summer of 2007 to learn more about teaching Diversity Across the Curriculum. In 2007-2008, she held a Diversity Leadership Fellowship with the Society of Professional Journalists.

In her spare time, Becky loves hiking, fishing and traveling with her husband Roger, watching football, cooking, photography, knitting and doing Native American beadwork.

• Classroom teaching
• High school journalism issues
• Media ethics
• Native American free press issues
• Science and the news media

• Tallent, R.J., Fox, K., Cain, B. & McKerral, M. (eds) (2015). Still Captive? History, Law and the Teaching of High School Journalism. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Publishing, Inc.
• Tallent, R.J. & Crowley, K. (2012, Summer). Facilitating creativity in a non-creative world: helping students develop critical/creative thinking skills using andragogy in the classroom. Florida Communications Journal, Vol. 40 Issue 2, Pages 23-34, 12.
• Tallent, Rebecca J. (2012, July/August). Shields up in Indian Country, Quill 100 (4) 34-36.
• Tallent, Rebecca J. (2012, May/June). Report it right: Depression and traumatic brain injuries. Quill, 100 (3) 30.
• Tallent, Rebecca J. (2011, July/August) “Same rules apply for those with disabilities.” Quill, 99 (4) Page 17.
• Tallent, Rebecca J. & Dingman, Rubell S. (2011, July). Cherokee Independent Press Act of 2000. Journal of Communication Inquiry, Vol. 35, No. 3, Pages 252-274.
• Tallent, Rebecca J. (2011, July). Killing with silence, not even softly. The Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Vol. 26, No. 3, Pages 246-249.
• Tallent, R.J. (2010, Sept. 17). “Spokane Spokesman-Review Gets New Code of Ethics.”.
• Tallent, Rebecca J. (2010). “Research and choose words carefully.” The Quill, July/August 2010, Vol. 98, No. 4, Page 19.
• Tallent, Rebecca J., Sommerlad-Rogers, Deirdre & Bennett, Denise “Humor as Social Control: Less than a laughing matter.” Published by the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, HI, 2008.
• Tallent, R.J. and Dingman, R.S., “Native Press Freedoms: Federal and Tribal Legal Issues Restricting Native Media”, book chapter for Interracial Communication: Contexts, Communities and Choices edited by Brunson, D. and Lampl, L.L., Summer, 2010.
• Media and Diversity, by Luther, C., Lepre, L.& Clark, N.. Book review for Wiley-Blackwell Publishing submitted Nov. 10, 2008.
• Tallent, Rebecca J., “Leap the Native American Journalistic Divide” The Quill, September 2008, Vol. 96, Issue 7, p34.
• Tallent, Rebecca J., “Reporting on disabilities: Putting people first” The Quill, August, 2007, Vol. 95, Issue 6, Pages 34-38
• Strategic Planning for Public Relations , 2nd Edition, 2007 Ronald D. Smith, (Book Review) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers Submitted Oct. 10, 2007.
• Tallent, Rebecca J., “Newspaper Works to include Blogging in Code of Ethics” The Quill, December, 2006, Vol. 94, Issue 9, Page 27.

• Classroom teaching critical/creative thinking

• SPJ Diversity Committee 2010-2013
• SPJ Journalism Education Committee national chair 2011-present
• Campus Adviser at Large, SPJ National Board of Directors, 2013-present
• Member, Native American Journalists Association
• Kappa Tau Alpha (national journalism honor society)
• American Association of University Women

• Recipient, 2019 Chester Wells Memorial Key, Society of Professional Journalists. Given for outstanding service to the Society.
• Recipient, 2018 President Award for #Press4Education program, Society of Professional Journalists
• SPJ Diversity Leadership Fellowship, 2007
• Educational Diversity Fellowship, Poynter Institute for Media Studies, 2007
• Faculty Member of the Year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Oklahoma City, 2002-2003
• First Place, American Marketer’s Association, Oklahoma City Chapter, Marketing Campaign for Epworth Villa, 2001
• Second Place, SPJ, Oklahoma Professional Chapter, Not-For-Profit Publications, 2001
• First Place, SPJ, Oklahoma Professional Chapter, Not-For-Profit Publications, 2000
• Award of Merit, External Publications,International Assn. of Business Communicators Oklahoma Chapter, awarded April, 1999
• Outstanding Deputy Regional Director, SPJ Region 8, 1988-89
• Outstanding Performance for SPJ Ethics Education, 1990