William Sites, Lincoln University (Missouri)
CCN Faculty Champion
Center for Community News
BIO
William K. Sites is an associate professor of journalism at Lincoln University (Missouri) focusing on news reporting and writing, MMJ, media law, and drone journalism. He spent 20 years working in all facets of print and digital media, including founding successful community newspapers and online news sites before joining the staff of Lincoln University in 2014.
Sites attended journalism school at the University of North Alabama. After graduation, Sites worked as a reporter, photojournalist, and editor at newspapers in Missouri and Idaho, including managing the U.S. Army’s post newspaper at Fort Leonard Wood.
His love for hyperlocal journalism led to the founding of several community newspapers and websites. When online classified advertising sites began to cannibalize local print ad revenue, Sites did what any rational journalist would do. He moved to Reno, where he attended grad school at the University of Nevada. While at UNR, Sites taught undergrad journalism classes. This began his love for teaching. After graduation, Sites returned to his community newspaper business in Missouri. A few years later, he learned about an open position at nearby Lincoln University, a historically black college and university.
In his decade at LU, Sites moved the campus newspaper from print to digital, while also taking the ownership of the newspaper away from the administration and into the hands of the students. In 2018, he began the first HBCU drone journalism program in the nation. Also in 2018, he was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education, the state’s highest honor for public college teachers.
Bio
William K. Sites is an associate professor of journalism at Lincoln University (Missouri) focusing on news reporting and writing, MMJ, media law, and drone journalism. He spent 20 years working in all facets of print and digital media, including founding successful community newspapers and online news sites before joining the staff of Lincoln University in 2014.
Sites attended journalism school at the University of North Alabama. After graduation, Sites worked as a reporter, photojournalist, and editor at newspapers in Missouri and Idaho, including managing the U.S. Army’s post newspaper at Fort Leonard Wood.
His love for hyperlocal journalism led to the founding of several community newspapers and websites. When online classified advertising sites began to cannibalize local print ad revenue, Sites did what any rational journalist would do. He moved to Reno, where he attended grad school at the University of Nevada. While at UNR, Sites taught undergrad journalism classes. This began his love for teaching. After graduation, Sites returned to his community newspaper business in Missouri. A few years later, he learned about an open position at nearby Lincoln University, a historically black college and university.
In his decade at LU, Sites moved the campus newspaper from print to digital, while also taking the ownership of the newspaper away from the administration and into the hands of the students. In 2018, he began the first HBCU drone journalism program in the nation. Also in 2018, he was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education, the state’s highest honor for public college teachers.