FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Innovative journalist and author Jesse Holland has been selected as the 2016 visiting distinguished professor of ethics in journalism for the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas.
Holland will balance time between covering the 2016 presidential election with meeting students and faculty in the classroom and during events about diversity in journalism and the evolving roll of journalists on social media.
“We are honored that Jesse Holland will be joining us this fall,” said Larry Foley, chair of the journalism department. “He is a nationally respected journalist and his expertise covering the presidential race makes his time with us incredibly timely.”
“We are especially pleased that Jesse will be able to regularly offer students a working knowledge of what will surely be a particularly historic presidential election campaign,” said Ray McCaffrey, director of the Center for Ethics in Journalism.
In addition to being the race and ethnicity reporter for The Associated Press (AP), Holland founded, curated and managed the AP Politics Facebook page, managed @AP_Politics on Twitter and wrote the stylebook used by AP Washington bureau reporters for tweeting political and government stories.
Holland has written several books, ranging from historical non-fiction — The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves In the White House; and Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering African American History In and Around Washington, D.C. — to young adult fiction with Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Finn’s Story.
“Mr. Holland has written hundreds of stories about African American politics and history and we’re all looking forward to learning from him while he’s on our campus,” Foley said.
Holland has several awards including Presstime Magazine’s Top 20 Under 40 and the Associated Press Managing Editor Association John L. Doughtery Excellence Award. In 2011, TheRoot.com named Holland one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans.
In addition to covering the Supreme Court, presidential and gubernatorial campaigns, the White House and Congress for the AP, Holland was the first African American elected to the Congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents, a congressionally created committee of journalists elected by their peers to represent the Congressional Press Corps in front of the Senate and House of Representatives.
“What a privilege to have for a semester a journalist of Jesse Holland’s experience and stature,” said Gerald Jordan, associate professor of journalism and Center for Ethics in Journalism committee member.
“He continues the line of outstanding professionals who have joined our faculty in providing for our students the very best presentation and practice in journalism ethics,” Jordan said.
Holland has lectured at several universities including Brown University in Providence, R.I., the Government Policy Institute at Georgetown University, American University and Howard University, all in Washington, D.C., Lane College in Jackson, Tenn., Goucher College and Loyola College in Baltimore, Md., and the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.
Holland graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Liberal Arts degree in journalism and English. He was the second African American editor of The Daily Mississippian newspaper at the university. He was also one of the youngest people named as one of the University of Mississippi’s Top 50 Journalism Graduates. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College, where he sits on the Alumnae and Alumni of Goucher College board of directors and the Goucher College Board of Trustees.
Holland will lecture in university classes and work directly with students and professionals during seminars and panels later in the semester. More information about upcoming events featuring Holland can be found on the Center for Ethics in Journalism website located at journalismethics.uark.edu