Alfred Hermida

Alfred Hermida, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of British Columbia. He is co-lead of the SSHRC-funded Global Journalism Innovation Lab, co-founder of The Conversation Canada (2017), and former director of the UBC School of Journalism, Writing, and Media (2015-2020).  With more than two decades of experience in digital journalism, his research addresses the transformation of journalism, emergent news practices, media innovation and social media. 

His books include Data Journalism and the Regeneration of News (Routledge 2019), co-authored with Mary Lynn Young, and Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why It Matters (DoubleDay, 2014), winner of the 2015 National Business Book Award.  His academic work has been published in top peer-reviewed journals, including Digital Journalism, Journalism, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly and the Social Media + Society.  

Dr. Hermida has been an OsloMet Digital Journalism Fellow (2019), an IBM CAS Canada Research Faculty Fellow (2010-2012), and a Knight-Wallace Fellow (2005). He was a BBC TV, radio and online journalist for 16 years, including four as a correspondent in North Africa and the Middle East, before going on to be a founding news editor of the BBC News website in 1997. As a Visiting Fellow, he looked at how the future of journalism is being shaped by innovation practices, business models and policy frameworks.