Benjamin Shors is chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Production and a professor of practice at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. As chair, he oversees students and faculty members in four degree programs. Shors joined the Murrow College in 2008 and directs the department’s course offerings and extracurricular experiential learning opportunities, which include the Murrow News Service, the Rural Plunge, and the Backpackpack Journalism Program. He is the project director for the Murrow News Fellowship Program, a $2.4 million state-funded initiative to increase media coverage of civic affairs in underrepresented communities, both rural and urban.
His scholarship focuses on rural, underrepresented populations in the news media, and he has received funding for his academic, educational, and creative activities from the Independent Television Service, the Online News Association, Vision Maker Media, and state humanities organizations, and he has consulted on grants from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Defense, among others. He has held fellowships with the International Center for Journalists and the Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute.