A law school faculty member specializing in media and communications law — teaching First Amendment, defamation, privacy, intellectual property as it intersects with media, FCC regulation, and the evolving legal framework for journalism, digital media, and platform regulation.
Most days tend to balance teaching media law and related courses (First Amendment, communications law, internet law, privacy, defamation, IP), legal scholarship for law journals, student advising, and the service work of faculty appointments. You'll often prepare for case-method classes drawing on rapidly evolving Supreme Court and lower court doctrine, comment on emerging media law issues, and supervise students in media law clinics or externships.
The variance between roles is real — tenure-track media law professors at major law schools publish extensively and engage with national debates; clinical media law faculty run media law clinics with student practitioners serving journalists; some media law faculty teach in communications schools rather than law schools; adjuncts blend media law practice with teaching. Practitioner backgrounds (media counsel, ACLU, journalism work) inform many teachers' perspectives.
People who tend to thrive here are comfortable with First Amendment doctrine and rapidly evolving media law, capable of engaging with both legal and journalistic communities, and patient with the slow arc of legal scholarship. JD plus practice background anchors most paths. The work tends to offer academic freedom, engagement with consequential press and platform issues, and intellectual community, with the trade-off being the often-politically-charged nature of First Amendment work and the modest pay relative to private legal practice — for those drawn to media law academia, the role offers durable purpose.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
A law school faculty member specializing in media and communications law — teaching First Amendment, defamation, privacy, intellectual property as it intersects with media, FCC regulation, and the evolving legal framework for journalism, digital media, and platform regulation.
Median pay for a Media Law Faculty Member is about $127K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $58K to $208K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Speaking, Learning Strategies, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and Instructing.
Most people in this role hold a doctoral degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 2.2% through 2034, with roughly 22,800 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Law Lecturer, Law Professor, and Law Instructor.
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