Pat Farabaugh joined IUP’s journalism faculty as a full-time temporary instructor in August 2007 after serving as an adjunct instructor in Penn State University’s College of Communications for two years.
Courses he has taught at IUP include Editing, Feature Writing, Magazine Principles, Photojournalism, Sports Journalism, Journalism and Mass Media, Journalistic Writing, and Basic Journalism Skills. He also advises students in the department.
Farabaugh taught news writing and reporting courses at Penn State’s University Park and Altoona campuses before joining the IUP faculty. He has completed his coursework and comprehensive exams in the doctoral program in communications at Penn State and is currently working toward completion of his dissertation. Farabaugh’s research focuses on political communications within the U.S. radio and television industries. He explores these areas through the use of historical and ethnographic research methods.
In October 2009, Farabaugh presented his dissertation project, titled “Carl McIntire and his Crusade to Topple the Fairness Doctrine,” at the annual national conference of the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA) in Birmingham, Ala. The project explores the story of Carl McIntire, a radio commentator, and WXUR, a former radio station outside Philadelphia, and their role in the demise of the Fairness Doctrine. WXUR is the only radio or television station in American history to be denied license renewal by the Federal Communications Commission as a direct result of Fairness Doctrine violations.
He is a member of AJHA and the American Historical Association. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Communications Media from IUP in 1993 and his master’s degree in Athletic Administration from Slippery Rock University in 1999.
Farabaugh worked in college athletic media relations for twelve years before beginning his doctoral studies at Penn State. He served as sports information director at Saint Francis University (May 1999–May 2005) and was an assistant SID at Bucknell University (August 1995–April 1999) and Slippery Rock (August 1993–August 1995). He also served as the interim SID at Bucknell and Slippery Rock during his tenures at those schools and was chairman of the Northeast Conference’s sports information directors in his final two years at Saint Francis.
Farabaugh was recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America in 2002, when he was awarded a citation for excellence in writing. He served as a writing specialist at Saint Francis, working with that university’s student-athletes.
Before entering the public relations field, Farabaugh worked as sports reporter and columnist for the Union Press Courier newspaper in Patton, Pa. He has worked extensively in sports broadcast journalism and remains active in this area, providing play-by-play commentary on high school football games for stations in Ebensburg and Johnstown, Pa. He also works as a freelance writer. His most recent work, a feature story for Johnstown (Pa.) Magazine, detailed the history and tradition of potato farming in Pennsylvania’s Cambria County.
He resides in Ebensburg with his wife, Jennifer, and stepson, Logan.
Fall 2009 Office Hours
Tuesday, Thursday 9:00–11:00 a.m.
Wednesday 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
