Cox Institute welcomes new faculty, announces new roles

The Cox Institute is welcoming one new faculty member and has made several key role changes as the 2026-27 academic year begins.

The Cox Institute’s purpose is to prepare students for leadership, writing and innovation roles in the news media through experiential learning opportunities. It was established in 1990 by the late Conrad Fink — a legendary journalism professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. It is named for the late James M. Cox Jr., who headed Cox Enterprises and Cox Broadcasting Corporation from 1957 until 1974.

Dr. Amanda Bright, clinical associate professor, begins a new position this fall as executive director of the Cox Institute, formerly led by Dr. Keith Herndon.

“Our idea here is to bring the curriculum alive and make it an extension of what they’re learning in class, but in a real, tangible way, where they interact with professionals, and they do real work that matters,” Bright said.

Senior lecturer Lori Johnston, who is also the director of the Cox Institute, said she’s excited to take over the Journalism Leadership Lab’s Levin Leaders program, where students will take on a variety of leadership roles both inside and outside of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The program is supported by Adam Levin. The Leaders will discuss media leadership with their peers and professionals, and they will mentor journalism majors and serve as judges in Reporting I and II class competitions.

“The hope is that students will feel empowered to be able to talk to professionals, but also that they’ll feel like they can really lead their peers in a more successful way,” Johnston said.

Clinical Assistant Professor/Writer in Residence Nick Chiles will begin his first year in the Cox Institute as the director of the Journalism Writing Lab’s Fink Fellows, previously led by Johnston. Chiles said the Fink Fellows program will focus on long-form reporting and writing.

“We’ve gotten so used to short attention spans, and so this is our attempt to fix the short attention spans that are now plaguing us across society,” Chiles said. “One reader at a time, we’re gonna make them more interested in delving deeply into storytelling.”

Bright will continue as the director of the Journalism Innovation Lab’s Griffiths Innovators, which was created by Richard T. Griffiths to help newsrooms in Georgia achieve innovation-related goals. Even though the Innovators work on a variety of projects, they often share the same challenges and successes as they help journalists think forward.

“Seeing them synthesize those ideas and pull together strategies that actually help real newsrooms in real time is a blast,” Bright said.

The Cox Institute is also the home of the Certificate in News Literacy. The Certificate enhances students’ ability to discern between credible information and information disorder through critical examination of how we access, analyze, verify, create and share media messages with an emphasis on news. It’s an interdisciplinary, four-course certificate that can be added to any major at UGA.

Its director, Associate Professor Dr. Kyser Lough, has recently updated the curriculum for the Certificate to make sure students are on the cutting edge of news literacy.

“I’m most excited this coming year about how we’ve made an elective option for the certificate, which opens up a lot of course opportunities and flexibility for students,” Lough said.

This spring, 66 students graduated with the news literacy certificate. There are currently 210 students enrolled, representing 31 majors across campus.

Herndon, who has served as the Morris Chair in News Strategy and Management since 2018, explained the chair has long been an integral part of all of these Cox Institute programs by supporting them and individual students through scholarships and sponsorships.

“This is my last academic year at Grady before I retire next summer, and I am excited about the new structure we’ve established for the Cox Institute,” Herndon said. “It is a wonderful opportunity for me to spend this year in support of my colleagues as Cox Institute faculty while also continuing as the Morris Chair.”

Author: McKenna Edwards