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Jan Leach

Jan Leach

School of Media and Journalism
Emeritus Professor
Campus:
Kent
Contact Information
Email:
jleach1 [at] kent.edu
Fax:
330-672-4064

Biography

Jan Leach is an emeritus professor of news. She retired in 2020 after more than 15 years of teaching media ethics, newswriting, public affairs reporting, copy editing and other courses. She was director of KSU’s Media Law Center for Ethics and Access, and is a former Ethics Fellow at the Poynter Institute for Journalism Studies in Florida.

Jan began her journalism career at small newspapers in Fostoria and Findlay, Ohio, before moving to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Arizona Republic and the now-defunct Phoenix Gazette. In 1993, Jan returned to the Cincinnati Enquirer as managing editor. She was named editor and vice president of the Akron Beacon Journal in 1998, a position she held until joining Kent State..

In 2016, Jan was awarded the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She also received the Distinguished Teaching Award for the College of Communication and Information. In summer 2020, Jan was a guest instructor for the University of Notre Dame’s Journalism, Ethics and Democracy program. In 2018, Jan was a speaker/instructor at Zayed University in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE. She taught media ethics in India in 2014 as part of the U.S. State Department’s Speaker and Specialist Program.

She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2020 and the Dorothy Bowles Public Service Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2019. In 2015, she was named to the Cincinnati SPJ Hall of Fame.

She remains active doing guest lectures at KSU and local media appearances, in professional associations and community groups. She has published in newspapers, research journals and textbooks.

Education

B.S. in Journalism, Bowling Green State University, M.A. in Media Ethics, Kent State University

Affiliations

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication – Chair for the Media Ethics Division, 2015-16 -- Program Chair for the Media Ethics Division, 2014-15 -- Research Chair for the Media Ethics Division, 2013-14 -- Teaching Chair for the Media Ethics Division, 2010-13 Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, member American Society of News Editors Society of Professional Journalists Akron Press Club, trustee 2014-16 Millennium Fund for Children, advisory board Kent State CCI College Advisory Committee, 2014-16 Kent State Honors College Faculty Kent State JMC Graduate Studies Committee Past member of Kent State Faculty Ethics Committee, JMC Journalism Sequence Chair, JMC Academic Integrity and Assessment Committee and JMC Curriculum Committee

Awards/Achievements

  • Distinguished Service Award from the Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, 2020
  • Dorothy Bowles Public Service Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2019
  • University's Distinguished Teaching Award, 2016
  • Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame, 2015
  • CCI Distinguished Teaching Award, 2014

News Stories

Education is key to filtering fake news
School of Media and Journalism
College of Communication & Information
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800 E. Summit St.
Kent, OH 44242
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mdj [at] kent.edu
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