Biz journalist to teach at Penn State

A respected journalist has been selected to serve as a visiting journalism professor at Penn State during the spring 2015 semester through a program funded by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University.

Andrew Cassel will help jump start a business journalism focus in the College of Communications as he teaches a business journalism course, co-teaches a sports business course, collaborates with faculty across campus and works to establish partnerships with regional media. In addition, Cassel will contribute to the BusinessJournalism.org website.

“It’s an exciting opportunity. The Reynolds Foundation provides a wonderful model and the fact that the position is at Penn State is an added bonus,” said Cassel, who serves as an editor for a website focused on macroeconomic data and analysis for Moody’s Analytics. From 1984 to 2007, he worked as columnist, business editor and reporter for the Miami Herald and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Business journalism has always been important, but it’s never been as important as it is now,” Cassel said. “You cannot talk intelligently about anything journalists cover without an understanding of how people make their money and how economies function. It’s just critical. Whether its lifestyle news, politics or sports, it matters. You can tell when journalists do not have that context. It shows in their reporting.”

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