Janet Keefer

Background

About Janet Keefer

I am the Writing specialist for the Elon University School of Law, which means a coach law students on their writing. I retired from Drake University in 2010, and my husband, Joe, and I moved to Fearrington Village, near Chapel Hill, NC. While at Drake, I was the dean of its School of Journalism and Mass Communication from 1994 until 2001. My academic career followed a professional career that included a stint in CNN’s Washington Bureau. I also taught at Penn State University and The American University in Washington, DC. In 2001, I stepped down as dean at Drake and took an extended leave to become dean of the College of Communication Media Sciences at Zayed University, a public university for women in the United Arab Emirates. I began my career as a newspaper reporter in Columbus, Ohio, and later worked as a reporter and producer for television stations in Ohio and Alabama. I joined the Cable News Network’s Washington Bureau in 1981, shortly after the network was founded. Specialties: Writing for media; reporting; media law; media ethics and responsibility; media and diversity; broadcast and cable policy; writing and performance coaching; strategic planning; event planning; workshop and seminar development and implementation; equestrian sports.