Faculty

Amy Gajda.

Amy Gajda

40 Gregory Hall
(217) 333-5461
agajda - at - illinois.edu

Education

J.D., Wayne State University
B.A., University of Michigan

Affiliations

Assistant Professor of Journalism
Assistant Professor of Law
Director, Program in Law & Journalism, College of Law

Course Specialties

Law and Journalism
Information Privacy
Media Ethics
Broadcast Journalism

Background

Gajda is currently a law essayist for National Public Radio stations in Illinois, the law columnist for The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.) and the anchor on "Illinois Law," a television interview program that airs on WCIA-TV regionally and on the Illinois Channel statewide. She has won seven Associated Press awards, and her work has been published in The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram and others. She is a former television news anchor, reporter and producer for WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio; WMDT-TV in Salisbury, Md.; WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, Va.; WITF-TV in Harrisburg, Pa.; and WKBD-TV in Detroit. Gajda is a former litigator who practiced with Miles & Stockbridge in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the Virginia, District of Columbia and Michigan bars. In Spring 2008, she taught Media Law as a visiting assistant professor at Brooklyn Law School. During 2008-2009, she is research chair for the Law and Policy Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). She is also a member of the executive committees for the Section on Mass Communication Law and the Section on Defamation and Privacy of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

Research/Creative Endeavor

Gajda's research interests include First Amendment issues relating to newsgathering, reporting and academic freedom; the interrelationship of law and journalism ethics; privacy and journalism; and legal control of investigative and academic inquiry. Her book, "The Legalization of Academia," is scheduled for publication by Harvard University Press in Fall 2009.

Related Links