J-School welcomes six new faculty

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications added six faculty members for the fall semester in an effort to enhance the program.

“Our goal is to be one of the best journalism and mass communications programs in the country in terms of our mission and our tradition of excellence in teaching, research and service,” said Dr. Shirley Staples Carter, the School’s director.

“We’re adding new faculty that will strengthen and enhance our current mission,” Carter added.

There are now 41 full-time faculty equivalent positions that will help improve student to faculty ratios.

“I like to consider these new members as parts of an overall growth in the department,” Carter said. “It’s tremendous growth. We’re all here at the right time.”

The new faculty members bring diverse work experiences to their new roles at the University.

Attorney Jay Bender, who has handled a number of First Amendment cases in South Carolina, is teaching courses on media law. Bender said he hopes to adapt the courses to distance learning in the future, and eventually share responsibilities in the law school supervising its students.

The USC Law School graduate spent the past 22 years as an adjunct professor in the schools of law and journalism and mass communications, and he recently made the decision to switch from full-time law practice to full-time teaching. Read Bender's article, "What am I doing here?"

Bender is working with Dr. Erik Collins, associate director of graduate studies and research, to develop a program on commercial speech and its protections. He also is leading the creation of a cross-disciplinary degree between the two schools.

Bender’s résumé includes positions with the South Carolina Press Association and the South Carolina Broadcasters Association.

Dr. John C. Besley studies health and science communications, the ways in which a company reaches the public and how the media used affect public opinion. Specifically, Besley has examined nanotechnology and the ways it has been received. He holds a doctorate from Cornell University.

“John Besley is part of the University’s overall faculty excellence initiative. He’s part of an interdisciplinary thrust that includes philosophy and other departments within the University. This is very important to us as we try to raise our research profile,” Carter said.

Besley teaches mass communications research in the print and electronic journalism sequence.

Dr. Paul S. Lieber joins the School’s advertising and public relations sequence. Lieber spent several years working in public relations during the dot-com boom of the 1990s, servicing clients in nearly a dozen countries.

“Paul Lieber has a background in integrated marketing communication. That’s to enhance not only undergraduate instruction in public relations and advertising, but also what we’re doing at the graduate level in those particular areas,” Carter said.

Prior to USC, Lieber taught courses in public relations principles, management, ethics and in visual communication at Louisiana State University and Emerson College.

Professor Richard C. Moore is making a transition to teaching after a long media career.

Moore’s last job was as vice president of a Gannett-owned TV station in Cleveland. He has managed newsrooms in Atlanta; Charleston; Orlando, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Winston-Salem, N.C. In addition, Moore assisted in media convergence involving the Philadelphia Inquirer and USA Today.

He will work with broadcast journalism majors during their senior semesters.

Professor Chris Roberts comes to the Journalism School after spending decades honing his reporting and editing skills at newspapers in the Southeast.

Roberts began reporting for the sports page of his local paper in Jacksonville, Ala., when he was only 14 years old. Since then, he has covered business, politics and technology as a reporter and taken on numerous roles as an editor at the The Birmingham News and The State newspaper.

He has completed all but his dissertation in the Journalism School’s Ph.D. program.

Roberts teaches reporting, mass media research methods, and new media.

Dr. Lynn M. Zoch returns to USC this fall after spending more than two years at the University of Miami. Zoch taught at USC for 10 years before moving to Florida.

Her work experience in the nonprofit arena is significant. She worked with mental health groups in New York, the alumni association at State University of New York-Albany and Syracuse Stage.

Zoch is working on a book on public relations theory. She said her teaching allows her to test her ideas.

She serves as director of master’s degree programs and teaches public relations courses.