Benton named digital editor at Nieman Foundation

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has appointed Joshua Benton editor of its new Digital Journalism Project. A 2008 Nieman Fellow and former staff writer and columnist for The Dallas Morning News, Benton will oversee the initiative designed to help journalists excel in the digital media age.

In his new role, Benton will manage a new Web site for journalists, news leaders, and academics who seek to navigate the rapidly changing news business. At a time when newspapers are struggling to ensure long-term sustainability, the site will highlight best practices in the industry and feature case studies, commentaries, research reports, and successful business models.

As a reporter and blogger with long experience online, Benton will help identify ways journalists can improve their work and how news organizations can find ways to prosper. He will collaborate with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, the Harvard Business School, and the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard Kennedy School on original research related to the project’s mission. Eventually, the Nieman Digital Journalism Project will organize conferences and presentations to report findings of the research and present other information produced by the Nieman project.