November 21, 2025
In late October, Dr. Kathleen McElroy, the director of the Center for Ethical Leadership in Media at UT-Austin, made trips to visit with faculty, staff, advisers and students at three different journalism programs in the Los Angeles area: the University of Southern California, Cal-State Fullerton and Santa Ana College.
Her first stop was a visit to USC’s Annenberg Media Center, led by Christina Bellatoni, and accompanied by USC journalism department head Dr. Gordon Stables.
USC Annenberg’s Media Center Director Christina Bellatoni explains her students’ Dia de los Muertos installation to Dr. Kathleen McElroy during a visit in October. (Photo by Barbara Allen)
McElroy got a tour of the USC student newsroom where a Dia de los Muertos display was prominently featured near the front door. Bellatoni explained that what had begun as an explanatory news story became a recurring yearly display for the newsroom. McElroy and Bellatoni then swapped resources and ideas in a conference room on the second floor of the Annenberg Media Center.
The next stop was a faculty meeting at Cal State Fullerton, which is about an hour east of USC in Orange County. Dr. McElroy spoke to about 30 faculty members, explaining the CELM’s resources and asking for their input and feedback. She was especially encouraged to hear many comments from the faculty about their perceptions of what their graduates, and soon-to-be early career journalists, needed most out of the center.
Dr. Kathleen McElroy addresses the faculty of the journalism school at Cal State Fullerton during a full faculty meeting in October. (Photo by Barbara Allen)
The Cal State Fullerton faculty then treated Dr. McElroy and a guest to an all-you-can-eat lunch in one of the campus cafeterias.
Dr. McElroy ended her Southern California tour at SAC, a community college in nearby Santa Ana, California. There she met with Sarah Bennett, the SAC journalism section head who also serves as adviser to el Don, the nation’s preeminent community college student publication.
Joining Bennett were two of her students, who chatted at length with Dr. McElroy about their career aspirations, along with their concerns about joining the media industry when they graduate.
Barbara “Bob” Allen is founder and director of CollegeJournalism.org.