The client seeks an accomplished industry professional and/or scholar with an industry-focused research portfolio to serve as the Knight Chair in Audience Engagement and Trust in Media. This endowed chair will join a select network of professionals and scholars who bridge the newsroom-classroom divide through innovative teaching, major outreach projects, and their own research or creative activity. Together, Knight Chairs advance journalism and media education by developing new models for the field, fostering partnerships, and producing research or creative activity that strengthens trust and transparency in media.
The Knight Chair will lead a visible, applied effort to understand why large segments of the public feel unseen or underserved by news and information venues, and to test concrete approaches that rebuild trust. The role sits at the intersection of journalism, technology, and democracy, collaborating with research faculty and professors of practice and using newsroom and related center environments as laboratories for experimentation. By leveraging an academic setting and scholarly/professional networks, the Chair will help further establish leadership in shaping the future of trustworthy journalism and extending impact nationally.
Responsibilities include maintaining an active research and/or service portfolio, contributing to academic publications for scholars, and working directly with news communities and outlets. Professionals and/or scholars are expected to provide thought leadership that drives innovation across both the industry and the academy, including development of training and education programs for a learning enterprise. Through teaching, mentorship, and public engagement, the Chair will support the integration of audience engagement strategies into journalism education and practice, helping prepare future journalists to navigate ethical, technological, and cultural dimensions of engaging different audiences with integrity, empathy, and technological fluency.