INSTRUCTOR OF NEWS MEDIA, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

FORMER PROFESSIONAL NEWS AND SPORTS JOURNALIST

 

The Arenblog

My whenever-I-feel-like-it observations and commentary on journalism and college teaching (axiom: write only about what you know). Most recent posts: How media helped Trump win; reporters who don’t vote; and aggressive interviewing.

Say what? A journal publication

My co-written article with UA Professor Dr. Wilson Lowrey, based on my master’s thesis research, was published by Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly in its Spring 2019 edition. Click the image above to read (free access; no longer paywalled by publisher). Time saver tip: Read the abstract and last paragraph.

Subjects I get to teach

Reese Phifer.jpg

  • JCM 180 Journalistic Principles and Practices

  • JCM 303 News Writing and Reporting

  • JCM 325 Sports Writing and Reporting

  • JCM 493 Ethics and Diversity

  • JCM 511 In-Depth Reporting (grad level)

  • JCM 458/555 Entrepreneurial Journalism (undergrad / grad level)

 

I taught 3,800 students (yes, the department keeps track!) in seven years as a full-time instructor. (I’m an adjunct now.) I don’t know why anyone complains about “kids today.” Mine are awesome. (OK, 99% of them are.) They make every class interesting, for which I thank them.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Tom’s LinkedIn page
Tom’s Twitter feed: @Tom Arenberg (I don’t tweet a lot. If I wanted to keep getting electronically beaten up by a few crazy people every day, I would have kept being a sports editor.)

CONTACT INFORMATION

Room 402D, Reese Phifer Hall No more office! Send me an email: tparenberg@ua.edu

 

WEBSITE PURPOSE: I’ve concluded that students know very little about the instructors that universities place in front of them to teach them things they need to know (and that they pay for). This site is for those students (and others) who are curious enough to want some answers. It’ll also make it easier to write the obit.

Banner photo by Sarah Westmoreland Photography