Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies
Ben Brigandi teaches Communications and Media Studies classes, including media writing, sports media, social media, content creation, events management, media literacy, media audiences and technology, and also media standards and bias.
Previously, he was a content analyst and athlete ops specialist at the USA Today Co., the largest news media chain in the United States. There, he worked with the company's local newsrooms, communities, and advertisers across the country to produce and promote events celebrating achievements in athletics, business, and more.
He also spent more than two decades in the newspaper industry, including 18 years as sports editor at the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, during which time the daily newspaper won more than a dozen national journalism awards from Associated Press Sports Editors, and was recognized repeatedly as one of the Top 10 sections of it size in the nation.
He also spent two years as the third vice president of APSE, where he served as the voice of the smaller newspaper. In that role, his research of more than 150 editors across the country showed fresh insights for not only the state of the industry, but for trends in journalism, beat coverage, and newspapers as a whole. The research, presented at the APSE national conference that year, also served as the basis for his master’s thesis on print and digital media trends in smaller and rural markets.
A grateful recent kidney transplant recipient, Brigandi lives in South Williamsport with his wife and two children.