Knight Foundation

Marisa Porto and Michelle LaRoche join the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media faculty in the Spring 2023 semester, bolstering the school’s expertise in sustainable local news and business journalism.

Porto — an entrepreneurial leader who has served in strategic roles with media, nonprofits, startups and higher education — expands the school’s commitment to local news as the John S. and James L. Knight Chair in Local News and Sustainability.

LaRoche — an educator with deep journalism experience at leading business and financial news outlets — builds the school’s strength in business journalism as its Hussman Professor of Business Journalism.

On March 16, 2021, the Knight Foundation and the deans of the top journalism schools participating in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education will gather industry leaders to discuss the growing debate over the traditional journalistic value of objectivity.

As Penny Abernathy retires as the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media after 12 years, she says she is most proud of how her experience, knowledge and dogged truth-seeking have come together at Carolina in one serendipitous role – teacher.

A new $2.23 million Knight Foundation investment will support the UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local News and Table Stakes Newsroom Initiative.

The latest report on the state of local news by Penelope Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at UNC Hussman, was released June 24 by the UNC Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media.

Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics Penny Muse Abernathy and Knight Chair in Digital Advertising and Marketing JoAnn Sciarrino have been named recipients of Tanner Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.