Mehdi Semati is Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University (USA). His scholarly interests include international communication and global media, Iranian media and culture, and media and terrorism. His books include Iran and the American media: Press coverage of the ‘Iran Deal’ in context (2021, with W. Cassidy and M. Khanjani) and The Age of CNN and Hollywood: National Interests, Transnational Communication (2006, in Persian). He edited the volumes Media, Culture and Society in Iran: Living with Globalization and the Islamic State (2008) and New Frontiers in International Communication Theory (2004). His co-edited books include The Global Politics of Celebrity (2023, with K. Zambon), ISIS Beyond the Spectacle: Communication Media, Networked Publics, and Terrorism (2018, with P. Szpunar, R. Brookey), and Studies in Terrorism: Media Scholarship and the Enigma of Terror (2003, with N Chitty, R. Rush). His writings have appeared in various scholarly journals including Cultural Studies, Communication, Culture & Critique, Sociology of Islam, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Journal of International Communication, Communication Studies, Popular Communication, Popular Music and Society, Journal of Popular Film and Television, and Television & New Media, and Iran Namag.