USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III and School of Journalism director Geneva Overholser announced today the hiring of two faculty members: Seattle Times news producer Robert Hernandez (pictured, above left) and new media researcher and author Andrew Lih (pictured, right). They are scheduled to begin teaching at USC Annenberg in the fall semester.

"I am delighted to announce that our faculty voted today to add two extraordinary multi-media journalists to the USC Annenberg School of Journalism family: Andrew Lih, whose new book The Wikipedia Revolution is just out, and Robert Hernandez, who as director of development has led the innovative work of The Seattle Times and seattletimes.com," Overholser said.

Hernandez has worked for The Seattle Times since 2002, where he was promoted from news producer to senior news producer to director of development. He has shaped and executed the vision for the Web site and company, leading a team of engineers and designers in research and development focusing on creating innovative tools and applications for both staff and readers, among many other duties. He was a Web designer and consultant for El Salvador's largest daily newspaper site, La Prensa Gráfica, Web producer for the San Francisco Chronicle and online editor of The San Francisco Examiner. He is also on the online board of directors for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Lih is a new media researcher, consultant and technology author (listen to a recent Radio New Zealand interview here). After a decade in academia as a professor of journalism and media studies, he spent two years researching and writing the book The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia (Hyperion 2009), the only nonfiction narrative account about the online community that has created one of the most influential Web sites in the world.

After founding one of the first dot-com companies in New York in 1994, Lih created the new media program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism where he served as adjunct professor and director of technology for their Center for New Media from 1995 to 2000. During that time, he taught the first generation of new media journalists and advised New York media companies on content strategy and Web site design. He also developed the first guidelines for the Pulitzer Prizes to accept digital multimedia submissions, starting in 1999. Lih’s work and commentary have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, National Public Radio, MSNBC, CNN International, South China Morning Post and The Standard (HK), among others. He was recognized as a Young Leader by the American Swiss Foundation in 2000 and by the Asia Society in 2007.

"Lih and Hernandez will join Henry Jenkins (pictured, left) as new faculty members for Annenberg’s fall 2009 semester," Overholser said. "With this exceptional line-up, we will be able to place innovative multi-platform storytelling, pioneering digital and social networking opportunities, experimentation and entrepreneurialism at the center of all that we do. I couldn’t be more excited or pleased than I am today, as we look forward to welcoming them to Annenberg."

Also joining the faculty in the fall will be communication professor Robeson Taj P. Frazier (pictured, right), whose research interests include exploring issues pertaining to race and ethnicity, comparative political economy, popular culture, sport, globalization, and transnationalism and internationalism. He has recently completed a dissertation that examines the impact of China and Chinese communism on several black activist intellectuals from 1949-1976 and China's relationship with the African Diaspora during this period. Frazier has taught courses at New York University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and the City University of New York. He has had work published in African Americans in Global Affairs (Ed. Michael Clemons, University Press of New England/ Northeastern University Press, forthcoming 2009), as well as in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Black Arts Quarterly. He is at work on a manuscript that examines how African Americans and black culture have been received in China during the last 50 years. He obtained his doctorate in African Diaspora Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his B.A. in African American Studies and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert Hernandez
Andrew Lih