Reynolds Visiting Professors to Teach Business Journalism at University of Georgia and University of North Texas

Karen Blumenthal and Keith Herndon are the latest visiting business journalism professors selected by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is creating visiting business journalism professorships at the University of Georgia and the University of North Texas. The Reynolds visiting professors program has created 12 business journalism professorships at 12 different schools. The program is administered by the Reynolds Center at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Each visiting professor teaches two courses related to business journalism and forges partnerships with nearby professional media outlets that will enhance students’ educational experience. For the 2016 spring semester, Keith Herndon will serve as the Reynolds Visiting Professor at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Karen Blumenthal will be the Reynolds Visiting Professor at the University of North Texas. Herndon has taught as a visiting professor at Grady College and as an adjunct at Kennesaw State University, teaching entrepreneurial journalism, ethics, advanced reporting and news organization management. His professional career began as a Pulliam Fellow, covering business for The Indianapolis News. He was a business reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution before becoming assistant business editor and deputy business editor. He was a vice president in Cox Enterprises’ Internet division before starting a media and technology consulting business. Established in 1915, the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers undergraduate majors in advertising, entertainment and media studies, journalism and public relations. The college provides several graduate degrees and is home to the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. “Business journalism is an expanding area of news coverage and our students will benefit from training that specifically teaches how to tell these complicated stories well,” said Charles Davis, dean of the Grady College. “The Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism is at the forefront of delivering programs to extend business journalism education, and we are delighted to be part of this initiative in 2016.” Blumenthal is a veteran financial journalist, serving more than two decades with The Wall Street Journal where she covered retailing, oil and gas, housing, mergers and bankruptcies — and was Dallas bureau chief for eight years. At the Journal, she coordinated and edited one of the Sept. 11 stories that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for spot-news reporting. Blumenthal also has written three financial books for adults and five nonfiction books for young people. The Mayborn School at the University of North Texas has the only professionally accredited master’s in journalism program in the state and is home to the nation’s premier literary nonfiction conference. Students consistently earn state, regional and national awards in journalism and can pursue studies in broadcast/digital news, digital/print news, photojournalism, advertising and public relations. “We are delighted that UNT’s Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism has been selected to receive a Visiting Business Journalism Professor grant for the 2016 spring semester,” said Dorothy Bland, dean of the Mayborn School of Journalism and graduate director of the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism. “North Texas offers a phenomenal lab for students to capture business stories on multiple platforms in the nation’s fifth-largest media market.” Both University of Georgia and University of North Texas will receive $40,000 to contribute to the professor’s salary, plus an additional $10,000 renewable grant to bring in visiting professionals to speak to students. “The Reynolds visiting professor program has allowed universities across the country to introduce their students to the concepts needed to cover business topics,” said Peter Bhatia, director of the Reynolds Center. “It’s never been more important for journalists to understand how money affects every story. Our new Reynolds professors will be helping their schools lead in this important area.” The Reynolds visiting professorships are modeled on successful programs at Washington and Lee University and the Cronkite School. Ten other schools received Reynolds Visiting Business Journalism Professors over the course of the five-year program. They are: 2012 Will Sutton Grambling State University Department of Mass Communication Karen Blumenthal Texas Christian University Bob Schieffer College of Communication School of Journalism Rob Wells University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications Rob Reuteman Colorado State University Department of Journalism and Technical Communication 2013 Dianne Finch Elon University School of Communications Micheline Maynard Central Michigan University Department of Journalism Noelle Knox Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communication 2014 Dick Weiss University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications Joe Winski California State University, Fullerton College of Communications 2015 Andrew Cassel Pennsylvania State University Department of Journalism For information about other Reynolds-funded opportunities for educators, including a weeklong training in January [link to https://businessjournalism.org/reynolds-week/] for prospective business journalism professors, visit the Reynolds Center’s website at businessjournalism.org [LINK to https://businessjournalism.org/]. About the Reynolds Center The Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism provides a full range of training and resources to journalists about money including story ideas, workshops and its popular podcast, How To Cover Money. The Reynolds Center is based at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Support for the Reynolds Center comes from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in Las Vegas. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it has committed more than $115 million nationwide through its Journalism Program.