Dan Kennedy is a professor of journalism in the College of Arts, Media and Design and a nationally known media commentator. Professor Kennedy teaches First Amendment, opinion writing, media ethics, and other journalism courses, with an emphasis on the future of local news. He has also been published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Nieman Lab, Nieman Reports, Poynter Online, CommonWealth Beacon, and other venues.
Kennedy’s most recent book, co-authored with Ellen Clegg, is called What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate, and was published by Beacon Press in January 2024. What Works in Community News was longlisted for a 2025 Massachusetts Book Award.
He and Clegg, a retired editorial page editor of The Boston Globe, are the co-leaders of What Works: The Future of Local News, a project based at the School of Journalism and affiliated with the Center for Transformative Media. The project comprises a podcast, a frequently updated website, webinars, and public advocacy.
The author of three previous books, two of them on the future of news, Kennedy also writes a widely read blog, Media Nation, since 2005, covering developments in local news, media criticism, and political commentary. He is a regular panelist on Beat the Press with Emily Rooney, a video podcast launched in 2025 and, from 1998 to 2021, an award-winning weekly television program on GBH-TV (Channel 2).
A former media columnist for GBH News, The Guardian and, The Boston Phoenix, he is a 2019 recipient of the Yankee Quill Award for lifetime achievement from the New England Academy of Journalists. In 2018 he received the Media Ecology Association’s James W. Carey Journalism Award.
Kennedy received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northeastern University and his master’s degree in American history from Boston University. From 1979-88, he was a reporter and editor for The Daily Times Chronicle in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Departments
Journalism
Education
- MLA, American History, Boston University
- BA, Journalism, Northeastern University
Awards
- 2025, Longlisted for a Massachusetts Book Award, Massachusetts Center for the Book (for What Works in Community News)
- 2019, Yankee Quill Award, New England Academy of Journalists
- 2018, James W. Carey Journalism Award, Media Ecology Association
- 2018, First Place, Interview/Discussion Program, New England Emmys. Awarded to Beat the Press
- 2014, First Place, Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism, Penn State. Awarded to Beat the Press
- 2012, First Place, Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism, National Press Club. Awarded to Beat the Press
- 2012 & 2011, Second Place, Right-to-Know Reporting (with co-author Harvey Silverglate), New England Newspaper and Press Association
- 2010, 2008, & 2007, Nominee, Excellence in Teaching Award, Northeastern University
- 2010, Second Place, Right-to-Know Reporting (with co-author Harvey Silverglate)
- 2008 & 2009, Finalist, Media Commentary, Syracuse University Mirror Awards
- 2002, First Place, First Amendment reporting, New England Press Association
- 2001, First Place, Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism, National Press Club
- 1999, First Place, Media Reporting, Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Research Focus
- Journalism
- Media
- Local news
Courses Taught
- POV: The Art and Craft of Opinion Journalism
- Ethics and Diversity in the News Media
- The First Amendment and the Media
- Journalism 2: Intermediate Reporting
