Leslie Klein is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Journalism who joined the college in the Fall of 2024. Klein teaches JOUR 200B: Fundamentals of Editing and Reporting II, JOUR 348: The Real World I, JOMC 134: Visual Communication Project and JOMC 101: Principles of Mass Media.

Klein's research explores the intersection of media law and scholastic journalism. She aims to use her research to advocate for student speech and press rights. Klein approaches her research from a critical-cultural perspective and is committed to using her privileged position as an educator and researcher to fight injustice. Her research has been published in journals such as Journalism, Journal of Media Ethics, Journalism Practice and International Journal of Communication, as well as law reviews, including the Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality and the First Amendment Law Review.

In 2024, Klein received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the University of Georgia after her colleagues nominated her as the Grady College of Mass Communication & Journalism's top graduate student instructor. She has also been awarded Top Student Paper Awards and the Top Faculty Paper Award from the Scholastic Journalism Division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conferences and from the Communication Law & Policy Division at the International Communication Association (ICA) conference.

Before pursuing her graduate degrees, Klein taught high school English, yearbook and journalism for four years in Florida. In 2019, she earned her Certified Journalism Educator designation from the Journalism Education Association.

Klein holds a Ph.D from the University of Georgia in Mass Communications, an M.A. from the University of Missouri in Journalism with a concentration in Law and Conflict Resolution and a B.S. from Florida State University in English Education.