New director at USC Annenberg changes his mind *

Last Friday, Northwestern University journalism professor Douglas Foster accepted USC's offer to head up the journalism program here. On Sunday, he withdrew. Foster so far has had no public comment on the change of heart, or whatever it was. Ernest J. Wilson III, dean of the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, said it was "disappointing" but that the school will now resume looking for the successor to Geneva Overholser. Michael Parks, a USC professor and the former editor of the Los Angeles Times, had the job before Overholser and will fill in as the interim when she leaves in June.

* Tuesday night update: Foster told Larry Gordon, the LA Times' higher education writer, that he only tentatively accepted and that the details were never agreed upon. He said there was a "mismatch" in visions for the job. "At the end of the day, it just didn’t work out,” Foster said.

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