His primary efforts have been directed toward the annual Radio Television News Directors Association survey. This study — the most extensive, annual research done in this country on the state of electronic journalism — is conducted among all United States television stations and a random sample of radio stations.

The project includes at least four articles per year, covering broadcast news Web sites, profitability, broadcast news salaries, number of news and staff personnel in broadcast operations, and women and minorities in broadcast news. This research, funded by the Radio Television News Directors Association in Washington, D.C., is the most cited and reprinted in the field. The academic year 2005-06 was the 12th year he conducted the survey.

In addition, Papper, along with two other researchers, is involved in groundbreaking analysis of consumer media usage, generally termed the Middletown Media Studies. This research, funded by nearly $500,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc., is leading to an important reevaluation of media usage. TV Week has called the project the most significant audience studies done in 20 years.

He is also the originator and editor of Electronic News: A Journal of Applied Research and Ideas, first published in spring 2001 at Ball State. With future issues to be published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, its goal is "to promote and publish readily accessible research and encourage ideas that have clear relevance to the content, conduct and administration of electronic news (especially radio and television) and related fields (such as station Web sites)."

Papper has written more than 70 articles in the last 19 years, as well as authoring the text "Broadcast News Writing and Stylebook," which is now in its third edition since 1995. The Boston publisher of this volume, Allyn and Bacon, reports that it is the most widely used book of its kind in the United States.

An outstanding example of the teacher-scholar at Ball State, Robert Papper consistently brings enthusiasm and creativity to work that many consider "break through" in the telecommunications industry.