Since joining the journalism faculty in 2013, Stanton has been imparting the wisdom and insights he gleaned from three decades of covering a beat, first in sports and later as leader of the newspaper’s investigative team. Stanton admits he was at first hesitant about leaving daily journalism for academia, but four years into the job he has embraced the role.

His teaching style matches his low-key demeanor, but he keeps classes lively with engaging activities and colorful speakers — not only the old- and new-media professionals he knows but also the characters who have been sources for him and his Journal colleagues.

Notable appearances have included Washington Post political reporter Tom Hamburger; the co-creators of the hit podcast “Crimetown,” Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier; and Charles “The Ghost” Kennedy, a convicted drug dealer who went on to become a source for Stanton and the late Bill Malinowski, his friend and fellow investigative reporter at the Journal.

Stanton recalls the day Malinowski and Kennedy came to visit his newswriting class and blew students away. “Here’s this mob guy talking about having parties with cocaine and strippers, about bringing in camperloads of drugs from California. He’s talking about stealing duffle bags with $1 million from a drug dealer’s car in Queens, and he’s got his stripper girlfriend as a lookout.”

These are the types of scenes that animate “Crimetown,” which borrows heavily from “The Prince of Providence.” Stanton is intrigued by the possibilities podcasting represents for him and his students. He and Malinowski worked closely with Smerling and Stuart-Pontier to develop the serialized podcast, an artful melding of journalistic storytelling and old-time radio.

This is a great time to be teaching journalism, as far as Stanton is concerned. Despite the challenges buffeting the newspaper industry and the attacks on reporters and their First Amendment rights, the polarized, chaotic postelection political environment has produced a buzz about the profession and a flood of investigative stories not seen since the Watergate era, he says.

Stanton regularly leverages those headlines into lessons. When news of the sexual harassment suits against Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly broke, Stanton used it as a springboard to discuss libel, asking his students, “How do you handle a story like that, and what can you say? How do you deal with that and get it in the paper and not get sued?”

For a course on the history of the press, he taps into the musical “Hamilton.” “When you talk about Colonial America — essentially dead white guys — a lot of eyes start to glaze over,” he says. “But when you show a clip from a hit Broadway show and it’s central to the core debate, or you can talk about how the stuff going on in current politics ties back to those days, it makes students wake up a bit and get more interested and engaged.”

When it comes to skill building, Stanton believes students learn best by doing. He invited University deputy spokesperson Tom Breen to visit his newswriting class and told students to treat it like a press conference. As they peppered Breen with questions, Stanton jumped in periodically with pointers: “This would be a good time to ask follow-up questions,” after a question about state budget cuts, and “One of the things Tom could offer you is how to navigate the bureaucracy of the University.”

In the weeks leading up to the 2016 election, Stanton had students stage a mock presidential debate with some students acting as the candidates and others as reporters covering the event.

Journalism may be evolving, says Stanton, but the basics still apply. Solid reporting and strong writing are essential regardless of the technology used to deliver the news. Students would be hard-pressed to find a better model of what strong reporting and writing look like.

During a break from writing the final chapter of a book on boxing champ Rocky Marciano, Stanton reflected on his long career, what has and hasn’t changed about the profession, and the opportunity his students have to invent journalism’s future.