Dr. James Tracy

Biography:

James Tracy holds a PhD from The University of Iowa and was Associate Professor of journalism and media studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton from 2002 to 2016. In addition to historical research on media institutions Tracy has done considerable research on media coverage of recent events such as the Sandy Hook School massacre and the Boston Marathon bombing. Because he questioned the official narrative of the Sandy Hook massacre in this research Tracy became the subject of a media frenzy in early 2013. At that time his academic employer argued that Tracy’s work on his personal blog and public pronouncements were “free speech” yet not endorsed by the university. In January 2016 Florida Atlantic administrators terminated Tracy from his position, ostensibly for questioning university policy and failing to file paperwork on his outside activities in a timely manner. Tracy has established a legal defense fund and retained an attorney to further investigate his firing. In April 2016 Tracy’s legal team filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court, against defendants Florida Atlantic University and United Faculty of Florida/Florida Education Association and several of their chief administrators and officers. The complaint was amended in August 2016 and a hearing on the defendants’ motion to dismiss was held on December 1, 2016. The judge’s ruling in that hearing is forthcoming.

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