RISJ appoints new Director of Research
17 Nov 2010
Professor Robert G Picard, a world-leading specialist on media economics and government media policies, is to join Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) at the University of Oxford. As from this month Professor Picard will become the Institute's first Director of Research, bolstering its continuing development as Europe's foremost research centre for international comparative journalism.The RISJ, based in the University's Department of Politics and International Relations, is global in its perspective. Professor Picard will direct projects across its main research areas examining changes in the business of journalism, the practice of journalism and journalism and accountability. Professor Picard will leave the Media Management and Transformation Center at Jönköping International Business School in Sweden where he was Director of the Center and Hamrin Professor of Media Economics. He is well known in academic circles, having worked at Louisiana State University, California State University in the United States, and Turku School of Economics, Finland. In public life, he has been a consultant in media affairs for governments in the United States and Europe, investment firms, media companies and media labour organisations. He has also served as an expert witness at congressional and parliamentary committees and inquiry boards. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the core funder of the RISJ, and recently renewed its financial commitment awarding a total of £1.25m for 2011-2013 to the Institute. Launched in November 2006, the Institute developed from the Reuters Fellowship Programme, established at Oxford University 25 years ago. The RISJ is a leading forum for scholars and practitioners to engage in understanding the challenges and developments of the media industry across the globe. Commenting on his appointment, Professor Picard said: 'The RISJ is expanding its capabilities as an organisation that undertakes vital research and provides independent analysis of media developments and issues. I am delighted to play a role in those efforts because it is critical to have a reliable, autonomous source from which policy makers and media companies can seek knowledge and insight in the rapidly changing media environment.' Professor Picard is the author and editor of 25 books on media. He edits The Journal of Media Business Studies and was previously editor of The Journal of Media Economics He has held fellowships at the Shorenstein Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Reuters Institute at University of Oxford. He received a BA in Communications from La Sierra University, followed by an MA in Communications from California State University Fullerton, and a PhD in Journalism from University of Missouri-Colombia. Picard is listed in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Education, International Authors and Writers Who's Who, and Contemporary Authors.
