Her research interests include media history and digital storytelling. Her most recent publications center on the study of editorial partnerships between newspapers and television stations, and on collaborative teaching and learning. She earned her master's degree from Butler University in radio-television and completed doctoral courses in journalism at Indiana University. Spillman previously worked as an editor for The Associated Press in Indianapolis and as the managing editor of TheIndyChannel.com, the Web site for the ABC television affiliate in Indianapolis. She also was a reporter at several radio and television stations in central Indiana.