I’m a former newspaper reporter for small dailies in the Chicago area and the Atlanta area. I didn’t major in journalism in college (it wasn’t available at Wheaton — still isn’t); so to supplement my BA degree in political science I got a master’s degree in news-editorial journalism from what is now the College of Media at the University of Illinois. (My master’s project was investigative reporting on racist lending practices for urban housing.

My doctorate from the University of Kentucky is a mix of journalism, communication and education courses. I studied the ways journalism was part of the rise of Christian colleges like Biola (hundreds of them) in the last century.

I teach courses in journalism, but I guess you’d call me a scholar. I’ve been studying and researching American journalism (and the journalism produced by Christians) since I entered academia in 1989 at Asbury University. I write for publication, but it’s mostly academic writing — that is, my audience is faculty and scholars (and maybe grad students who want to be faculty and scholars). My published work has appeared as chapters in more than nine anthologies and I write regularly for academic journals and other academic publications. I’m a frequent presenter at conferences for journalism and media scholars and at the conventions run by the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Advisers.

I am a department chair, but I am not an administrator. Administrators wear suits and go to meetings with people who wear suits. I wear open collar shirts and jeans and occasionally show up to class wearing a goofy hat. I do own a suit and a blazer and I will wear them if necessary.

I’m a board member of the California College Media Association, of the Advisers of Christian Collegiate Media, and I’m affiliated with the Evangelical Press Association. That lets me speak into what the norms are for college media and how Christians think about the media they do.

I’m an expert in campus media because I’ve been advising college and university newspapers since I entered academia. I study what the best looks like and I research the pressures college students feel from administrators who don’t like the truth being told about them (when it’s bad).

I know how to guide students into award-winning reporting, writing, photojournalism, and design. I’ve seen great work done by my staffers and editors and I’ve helped them developed strategies to make that happen. But it’s their work, not mine. I advise; they create the great work. 

The reason I started teaching (i.e. why I left daily news journalism) was because I sensed God’s call on me to launch new generations into a world that needs better journalism and a journalism that begins with the premise that God is there, He is knowable, He loves us, He’s  our Sovereign, and is the author of Truth. My best students are now professional journalists, or are using journalism skills in other career paths. But the students I’m most proud of are those who have learned to balance their professional life with their personal life (marriage, family) — and who have made pursuit of God their main priority.