The Senior Semester capstone journalism class is an immersive five-day-a-week experience designed to provide students with “real world” newsroom experience. Inside the converged newsroom and television studio, students report, produce and direct two daily news shows (Carolina News), write and edit stories for the Senior Semester lab web publication (this website), produce stories, photographs and informational graphics for the print publication (The Carolina Reporter) and engage in social media through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms.
The program is taught by instructors with extensive experience in television, newspapers, graphics, photography and digital journalism.
Greg Brannon
Greg Brannon brings decades of experience in television news and sports entertainment. He joined the faculty in 2017 after nearly 20 years as the Carolina Panthers television and digital media executive producer, and is a go-to expert for Senior Semester students headed for careers in sports news, sports commentating and sports play-by-play.
Contact him: jgbranno@mailbox.sc.edu
Andy Burns
Andy Burns
Andy Burns’ focus is on de-mystifying the process of journalism — stripping away the rules, guidelines, “must-dos” — and reminding students the form is pretty simple: tell interesting and informative stories that benefit society. He also is interested in the “mini-documentary,” having produced the Hidden Columbia series while at WOLO. Burns is a native of Dalton, Georgia (Carpet Capital of the world — yes, really), a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill (go Heels!) and a former sixth grade teacher at Julia Roberts’ middle school. Burns first came to Columbia as a morning/noon anchor and reporter at WOLO-TV, and was invited to teach a class as an adjunct faculty member at UofSC. This year, he joins the university full time. He has previous reporting experience in Charleston, the District of Columbia, Chicago and (as a traffic reporter) in New York City.
Contact him: burnssa4@mailbox.sc.edu
Scott Farrand
After 20 years working for The State newspaper in Columbia as its designer editor and visual journalist, Scott Farrand now brings his expertise in photography, data visualization and publication design to the Senior Semester. For the last 17 years, he has guided Senior Semester students in devising new ways to tell a story through informational graphics, arresting photos and innovative multimedia techniques.
Contact him: farrand@mailbox.sc.edu
Rick Peterson
Rick Peterson is a veteran of 30 years in the television news business and has taught in USC’s broadcast Senior Semester for two decades. He continues to work as a story producer for the national news desk at NBC News in Charlotte, selecting nationally breaking stories for use around the country. Students know he understands how a newsroom works and what a national news story looks like.
Contact him: rspeter@mailbox.sc.edu
