Elizabeth Smith

Elizabeth R. Smith has 14 years of experience teaching a variety of journalism and media courses as well as advising and directing newspaper (print and digital), a magazine, a web show and student media advertising. She has nearly 20 years of professional experience in the journalism industry, including print, web and broadcast news. She is an award-winning journalist, and in 2010 won an Emmy for her work on the breaking news coverage of Michael Jackson's death. 

In May, Smith was named a Kopenhaver Center Fellow for 2017. Smith has partnered with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library on the topics of news literacy and understanding the spread of fake news. Her current research includes, social media and news, social media and journalism education, news literacy among college students, and Communities of Practice in student newsrooms. Smith earned her bachelor's in Journalism from Harding University; she earned her master's and doctoral degrees from Pepperdine University. Smith continues to freelance as a writer and editor.