Kyser Lough named director of UGA’s Certificate in News Literacy

Kyser Lough, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Georgia’s Grady College, is joining the faculty of the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership and will be director of the institute’s campus-wide Certificate in News Literacy.

The Certificate in News Literacy launched in Fall 2022 and has grown to nearly 150 students across 20 majors.

“News literacy has always been important, but today’s media landscape necessitates a special emphasis,” said Lough, who teaches courses included in the certificate. “The thing I love about our certificate program is that it is campus wide. So far, I have had students from several majors, including social studies education, criminal justice and international affairs.”

Keith Herndon, executive director of the Cox Institute, led the certificate through its creation and first two years of operation. He said the program’s growth led to the need for a dedicated director.

“It is exciting to hand over the day-to-day operations of the certificate to Kyser Lough,” Herndon said. “We are responding to the certificate’s growth by appointing a leader who has the vision and passion to elevate the program even further.”

Jon Peters, the journalism department head, echoed those sentiments.

“Kyser has made so many important contributions to the department and the college. He’s collaborative in his teaching and research, and he’s generous with the time he spends mentoring students, always from a place of compassion,” Peters said. “He’s also thoughtful and creative, and he continues to be highly engaged with the industry. He’s exactly the right person at the right time to direct the certificate, which already is in a strong position because of Keith’s leadership and the energy of the faculty members who have taught in it.”

Lough, who holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, joined the Grady faculty in 2019. He is also the co-director and research lead of the Solutions Journalism Hub at UGA.

Lough researches visual communication and solutions journalism, both with an emphasis on photojournalism and exploring questions of power, access and boundaries. Within visual communication, he studies how news images are made, selected and interpreted, as well as the photographers themselves in how they define and operate within their field as they fight for legitimacy and job security.

His solutions journalism work investigates how it is conceptualized and created along with audience effects and the interplay of words and images. Solutions journalism, a growing field of interest within journalism studies, compels journalists to go beyond just reporting about problems in a community by also covering what people are doing about it.

Lough teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in visual communication, specifically photojournalism and visual method/theory. He also teaches two courses within the Certificate in News Literacy: Journalism Ethics and Diversity, which is also a required class for all journalism majors, and Credibility, the News Media, and Public Trust.

Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., Lough spent 10 years as a photojournalist, reporter and public relations practitioner, including several years in community news at the Murray Ledger & Times and Murray State News in Murray, Kentucky. His work has been published by the Associated Press and NCAA and in the Austin American-Statesman, Lexington Herald-Leader, Louisville Courier-Journal and American Hunter Magazine among others.

Author: Cox Institute