Leonard N. Penix

Leonard N. Penix, J.D., a professor educator for the Department of Journalism, College of Arts and Sciences, has more than 32 years of daily print and digital news experience, including 29 years at The Cincinnati Post, where he worked as production supervisor, assistant metro editor, suburban editor, editor of the online edition, page designer and copy editor. His career as a college educator also spans 32 years, including 25 years at the University of Cincinnati.  Professor Penix was licensed in 1985 by the Ohio Supreme Court as an attorney for the practice of law. He has two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Michigan State University, one in English and the other in journalism, and a doctorate in law from Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University. He has published approximately 7,500 articles and news stories, many distributed nationwide through the Associated Press, Scripps Howard and New York Times wire services.  He is the author of "An Introduction to Media Law and Ethics," which was published by Cognella Academic Publshing.
Penix has delivered speeches at national and regional conferences about media law and related topics for the American College Press Association and the College Media Association, which he has served as a member of the law committee. Penix was invited to speak about fake news and the erosion of trust in college media at the 2019 ACP/CMA National College Media Convention Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 2019, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. He delivered a speech in 2013 for approximately 1,000 people in Austin, Texas, and later gave a presentation and speech about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and related internet Media Law topics at the 94th annual National College Media Convention hosted by the American College Press/College Media Association. 

Doctorate in Law: Chase College of Law Highland Heights, Ky., 1984

Two Bachelor of Arts degrees: Michigan State University East Lansing, Mich., 1975 (Journalism and English)

Non-Fiction

Approximately 7,500 articles penned during a 32-year career in daily journalism have been published in print and many were distributed nationwide or internationally through the Associated Press, Scripps Howard and New York Times wire services. Approximately 6,500 of these bylined stories are available today in digital databases for Scripps Howard News and the Associated Press or on microfiche at the Public Library of Hamilton County. An estimated 500 million people have read at least one of these stories in print worldwide, and an estimate for additional online readers is not available. (Note: More than 6,500 articles were originally published by The Cincinnati Post and an additional 1,000 stories were printed by other publications.)

Articles referencing or with Len Penix bylines today appear on scores of Search Engine Result Pages by Google, Yahoo and all major search engines.

Approximately 3,139 articles are referenced in NewsBank, an online collection of articles from news organizations nationwide.

More than six articles with a Len Penix byline were posted since 2007 to the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

More than 1,900 news stories with a Len Penix byline written for The Post and others were included in 2012 in the Higher Colleges of Technology database, which serves academics worldwide.

Book

“Introduction to Media Law and Ethics.” The first edition was released by Cognella Academic Publishing in August 2022, and the second edition is scheduled for publication in August 2023.

Invited Presentations

Penix has delivered speeches at national and regional conferences about media law and related topics for the American College Press Association and the College Media Association, which he formerly served as a member of the law committee. Penix was invited to speak about fake news and the erosion of trust in college media at the 2019 ACP/CMA National College Media Convention Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 2019, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. He delivered a speech in 2013 for approximately 1,000 people in Austin, Texas, and later gave a presentation and speak about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and related Internet Media Law topics at the 94th annual National College Media Convention hosted by the American College Press/College Media Association. He delivered a speech about media law and multimedia storytelling in 2012 for approximately 1,000 professors and college educators in Austin, Texas, and later returned to Austin to lead a presentation and speak about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and related Internet Media Law topics at the 94th annual National College Media Convention hosted by the American College Press/College Media Association held Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, 2015. In addition, Penix was a primary presenter at the 89th annual National College Media Convention held Oct. 27-31, 2010, in Louisville, Kentucky about digital medial news writing and reporting. He also delivered a speech titled Blogging: The New Filter for more than 500 students on Feb. 15, 2007, at the Main College Auditorium of the DAPP Complex at the University of Cincinnati and discussed censorship and subpoenas issued to Enquirer reporters Sheila MacLaughin and Eileen Kelley in the Liz Carroll case during a March 2007 Bearcast radio broadcast sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.

After participating in foundational meetings and the process leading to the establishment of the Department of Journalism, Penix served the journalism department as news track coordinator, parliamentarian, as a member of the Scholarship Committee, the Undergraduate Studies Committee and in other capacities as well. Penix has helped formulate and refine the department’s curriculum, learning outcomes, goals and objectives. Penix served as a member of the journalism program’s curriculum development committee, which formulated learning outcomes, objectives, descriptions and other documentation for new and existing course offerings, and as a member of a committee studying conversion to the semester system. Professor Penix also assisted in developing standards for program accreditation review and has drafted a course descriptions and learning outcomes for Editing, which is a required course. In addition, Penix helped developed initial learning outcomes and objectives for Media Law and Ethics as well as for Reporting & Writing and Editing. Penix advises scores of additional students annually, and has served his department as ad-hoc Chairman of the Reappointment, Promotions and Tenure Committee. Penix has delivered speeches at national and regional conferences about media law and related topics for the American College Press Association and the College Media Association, which he has served as a member of the law committee. Penix was invited to speak about fake news and the erosion of trust in college media at the 2019 ACP/CMA National College Media Convention Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 2019, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. He delivered a speech in 2013 for approximately 1,000 people in Austin, Texas, and later gave a presentation and speech about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and related internet Media Law topics at the 94th annual National College Media Convention hosted by the American College Press/College Media Association.

Editing

Media Law

Advanced Content Editing

News Writing and Reporting

Editing and Design

English Composition

Penix attended the following professional development seminars and programs sponsored by the Cincinnati Bar Association, the Cleveland Bar Association or the Toledo Bar Association on the dates indicated: Biometric Privacy Laws March 9, 2022 Identifying, Preserving and Using Digital Evidence March 30, 2022 31st All-Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property: An update of copyright, patent and trademark law in the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts. Sept. 23, 2021 Eighth Annual Supreme Court Roundup: A review of copyright and other intellectual property law developments from the 2020-2021 Supreme Court term. Aug. 28, 2021 34th Annual Employee Benefits Conference June 18, 2021 APPS for Legal Research: Using streaming technology 05/08/2020 eBooks for Lawyers: Using streaming technology 05/09/2020 Get Focused - Time Management & Digital Detox in the Face of COVID-19 5/12/2020 Elder & Special Needs Law Update MAGI & MyCare Appeal Processes & Their Impact, Ohio's Service System for People with Developmental Disabilities, Special Needs Planning 101 5/14/2020 Cybersecurity & Ethical Considerations in the Face of COVID-19 5/26/2020 Ohio Public Records Request 8/18/2020 Ethical Issues in Social Media 8/18/20 Ethics in Practice Management and Document-based Retention: Ethics of Cloud-Based Storage 9/7/20 A Year in Review of Discipline Cases: Don’t Let It Be You 9/15/20 Title IX Litigation 9/23/20 Ohio Statutory Research Made Easy 10/18/20 Ohio Data Protection Act 11/7/20 Attended a seminar hosted by the Cincinnati Bar Association on Nov. 14, 2019, titled First Amendment and Freedom of the Press, which included a speech by David McCraw, deputy general counsel for The New York Times and presentations by Beryl Love, executive editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer and David Giles, deputy general counsel and chief ethics officer for the E.W. Scripps Company. Attended Cincinnati Bar Association seminars on Dec. 3, 2019, titled Law and Film: Do Films Influence the Law or Reflect It, and on Dec. 17, 2019, titled Famous Political Trials. Participated or attended during 2017 and 2018 in the following seminars hosted by the Cincinnati Bar Association about media law, copyright, intellectual property and related journalistic, reportorial and administrative topics: Use of Social Media Searches, Oct. 26, 2018; 28th Annual Intellectual Property Conference, Oct. 10, 2018; Do Anti-Discrimination Laws Violate Religious and Free Speech Rights? June 21, 2018; Cell Phone Record Analysis in Litigation, June 26, 2018; Tax Institute, Dec. 29, 2018. Attorney Conduct, Nov. 13, 2018; Participated April 29, 2016, in the following seminars hosted by the University of Cincinnati College of Law at 3300 Great American Tower, 301 East Fourth St., Downtown Cincinnati: Alice and the Oracle of CONTU: The Mysteries of Software as Intellectual Property presented by UC Law Professor Timothy K. Armstrong: Recent Important Decisions from the Supreme Court of Ohio hosted by Professor Emeritus Marianna Brown Bettman.,