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Wayne Garcia is a new instructor in the School of Mass
Communications. CHRIS JOY/USF

Award-winning journalist begins teaching at USF
[01.20.2011]

TAMPA, Fla. -- The University of South Florida has named Wayne Garcia, an award-winning political journalist and educator, to an instructor position in its School of Mass Communications.

Garcia will teach copyediting and reporting courses starting in the Spring 2011 semester.

“We are delighted to have somebody of Wayne’s experience and caliber joining us as we continue to build a school that breaks ground in teaching and researching the new media skills needed by today’s journalists,” said Fred Pearce, director of the School of Mass Communications.

Garcia has worked in Florida newspapers, colleges and political campaigns for more than 25 years. As a journalist, he worked for the St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Tribune and Gainesville Sun daily newspapers. During his tenure as the political editor for the alt-weekly Creative Loafing, Garcia won several Sunshine State Awards for his newswriting and his popular blog, The Political Whore.

He was the 2009 recipient of the Irene Miller Vigilance in Journalism Award from the Pinellas Chapter of the ACLU. He is also well known from numerous appearances on Tampa Bay news shows, including WEDU’s Florida This Week.

“I am very excited to join a faculty that has great depth and energy to face today’s journalism challenges,” Garcia said. “I love teaching, and I love writing. At USF, I will get to do both, as well as continue to contribute to the public dialogue about important civic issues.”

Earlier this year, Garcia completed two semesters as a visiting professor at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, where he remains affiliated as the executive director of the Florida Scholastic Press Association based there. He also has taught at the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg.

As a political consultant, he participated in more than 100 campaigns in the state. Most recently, he was the communications director for the Florida Hometown Democracy’s Yes on Amendment 4 statewide campaign.

A native of Scotch Plains, N.J., who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Garcia received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and his master’s degree from USF. He lives in Tampa with his wife and has two children, one a junior at UF and the other a bass drummer in the Plant High School Marching Panther Band.

-USF-

Filed under:Arts and Sciences Mass Communications School of Social Sciences   
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Author: Chris Joy
Contact: chrisjoy@usf.edu