Laura Smith has more than 35 years of broadcast industry and university-level teaching experience — specializing in journalism and mass communications. Before teaching, she spent more than 12 years working in television, primarily local TV news. She joined Penn State and the Bellisario College in July 2026 as director of online learning.
Previously, as a senior instructor at the University of South Carolina, she taught an array of courses, including introduction to reporting and writing, podcast and audio production, video storytelling for news, power producing (for TV news), media management and related graduate courses.
In 2023, Smith received the 2023 Edward L. Bliss Award for Distinguished Broadcast Education. In 2019, Smith won USC’s Garnet Apple Award for Teaching Innovation. In 2024 and 2025, she was recognized as a USC Career Influencer.
Smith has a longstanding and visible presence in academic organizations dedicated to journalism and mass communications education, serving in multiple leadership positions, promoting best practices in teaching, and expanding tools and techniques for multiplatform storytelling. Her service work emphasizes pedagogical innovation, inclusivity, and academic assessment.
In 2021 and again in 2024, Smith was elected by her peers from across the country to serve on the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Standing Committee on Teaching. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education. For the 2022-2023 academic year, she served as Chair of the committee, as well as on AEJMC’s Board of Directors.
Smith also serves on the Board of Directors for the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC) and is a long-time, active member of the Broadcast Education Association. She has coordinated and produced regional conferences for both AEJMC and BEA (On Location).
Smith, L.K. (2025, July). Using assessment methods to craft AI policies in the student newsroom: A case study. Journal of Media Education, 16(2), 19-31
Smith, L.K. & Brook, N. (2023). Student Writing: Using assessment as a tool to standardize and improve upon key learning outcomes. Journal of Media Education, 14(3), 16-23.
Smith, L.K., Robinson, E. & Maye, C. (2022, July). Improving assessment results: Experimenting with data collection methods in a Law & Ethics course. Journal of Media Education, 13(3), 19-24.
Smith, L.K. (2020, July). Assessment for people who hate statistics: Quantitative tools for the qualitative faculty (A Case Study). Journal of Media Education, 11(3), 38-45.
