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Benjamin Shors

  1. Chair, Journalism & Media Production
  2. Professor
  3. Professor of Practice
Email Addressbshors@wsu.edu
LocationJackson Hall 361C
Phone509-335-1547

Biography

Biography

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.

Education

  • M.A., the University of Montana School of Journalism, 2000
  • B.S., Montana State University, 1998

Classes Taught

  • COM 225 – Sports and the Media
  • COMJOUR 333 – Reporting Across Platforms
  • COMJOUR 425 – Public Affairs Journalism
  • COMJOUR 486 – Murrow News Service

Research Interests

  • Rural
  • Underrepresented communities
  • Documentary film
  • Newspapers
  • Science writing
  • Sports and the media

Awards

  • 2021, Best Short Documentary, Dallas Independent Film Festival
  • 2019, Indigenous Voices Award, Montana International Film Festival
  • 2018, Fellow, Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute
  • 2014, Outstanding Teaching Faculty, Murrow College
  • 2008, National Finalist, Livingston Award
  • 2006, First place, Investigative Reporting, Associated Press, Region 10
  • 2004, Fellow, International Center for Journalists

Selected Publications

Conference Presentations

  • Keynote, “Murrow and the Next Generation of Journalism,” Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. October 2023
  • Presenter, “Reclaiming a Crisis: Indigenous Journalism in the American West.” Bridges of Media Education 2023, Novi Sad, Serbia, May 2023.
  • Presenter, “Mobile and Multiplatform Journalism.” U.S. Department of State presentation, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
  • Presenter. “Rural Journalism and the Murrow College.” Washington State University Foundation. October 2021. Invited to speak on the Murrow College’s commitment to rural journalism.
  • Presenter. “The Blackfeet Flood,” the University of Nebraska (virtual). October 2020.
  • Presenter. “The Blackfeet Flood,” Salish-Kootenai College. (virtual). September 2020.
  • Presenter. Rural Journalism and Murrow’s Land-Grant Mission. Land Grant Symposium at Washington State University. 2019.
  • Presenter. Rural Reporting Plunge. University of Idaho. 2019.
  • Presenter. Placed-based journalism in rural America. Scripps-Howard Institute, Phoenix, AR. 2018.
  • Presenter. Encouraging Multimedia Storytelling Through Smartphone Apps as a Way to Visualize Tribal Culture. Viscom: The Visual Communication Conference. June 2017.