Political communication scholar Daniel Kreiss has been appointed an Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair of Canada in Democratic Communication at UBC’s School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, where he will lead research into how journalism, digital platforms and new technologies shape democratic life.
Dr Kreiss will strengthen the school’s graduate programmes by giving students opportunities to work on collaborative projects and study the pressures on journalism and public communication.
The Chair position marks a major $8 million federal investment in the future of democratic journalism over eight years, with the possibility of a four-year extension.
It is part of a federal initiative to recruit top international researchers to tackle global challenges. UBC secured nine of the 64 inaugural chairs nationwide, the highest of any university in Canada.
The appointment comes at an urgent moment for democracies around the world, as journalists confront political disinformation, election denial and information environments increasingly controlled by technology companies. Kreiss examines the institutions behind these changes and the choices they make about what reaches the public.
“There is nowhere better to be researching democratic and community resilience than at the world-leading University of British Columbia and its School of Journalism, Writing, and Media”
Kreiss has spent much of his career studying what happens to democratic institutions and norms when political campaigns and technology platforms gain new ways to reach the public.
His work also examines the choices journalists face when candidates attack democratic institutions and how news organisations can help people understand threats to elections and liberal freedoms.
Democratic communication
When he joins UBC in July 2027, Kreiss will focus on how to strengthen democratic communication. This includes strengthening the accountability function of public-interest journalists, civil society groups, and public opinion and trust in vital knowledge-producing institutions. Kreiss will also research the shared democratic identities that enable people to see themselves as having a stake in, and responsible for, each other’s futures.
The chair will support a research team working with partners in journalism, government, civil society and the technology sector.
The research will seek to inform journalistic practice and public policy while contributing to debates about the democratic responsibilities of platform and technology companies.
“It is an honour to be heading to a place that values, supports, and invests in higher education and the research that underlies scientific, technological, and public progress,” said Kreiss, who is due to start in July 2027.
“Through these Eddie Goldenberg chairs, Canada is taking the lead on addressing global threats to democracy and freedoms, and there is nowhere better to be researching democratic and community resilience than at the world-leading University of British Columbia and its School of Journalism, Writing, and Media.”
Kreiss’s expertise will contribute to teaching on digital media, platform power and disinformation at the school. His appointment also connects JWAM’s professional journalism programmes with research into the political and technological systems in which news organisations now operate.
“Dr. Kreiss’s appointment comes at the right time for JWAM as a school with a long history of innovation in journalism, media and communication studies and for Canada as it works to protect its sovereignty and ensure the resilience of its democratic institutions,” said Dr. Kamal Al-Solaylee, JWAM director.
“I’m excited to see him bring his outstanding research, teaching and commitment to public-facing scholarship to JWAM, UBC and beyond.”
Distinguished career
Kreiss comes to UBC from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is the Edgar Thomas Cato Distinguished Professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media and professor in the School of Data and Information Science. He is also a principal researcher and co-founder of the UNC Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life.
He has written or co-written five books. Taking Our Country Back examined the development of networked political campaigning from Howard Dean to Barack Obama, while Prototype Politics traced the growing use of data and technology in US elections.
Kreiss also co-authored Platforms, Power, and Politics and co-edited Media and January 6th, a 2024 collection about media and the assault on American democracy. Kreiss holds a PhD and an MA in communication from Stanford University.
As the inaugural Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair in UBC’s Faculty of Arts, Kreiss will place journalism and communication research within a federal effort to address threats to democratic institutions and enhance community resilience. This is one of the programme’s eight priority areas.
The federal government created the chairs to recruit internationally based researchers working on major public problems. Each appointment receives eight years of support, with the possibility of a four-year extension.
The programme, backed by up to $1 billion in federal funding over 12 years, was renamed in July 2026 in honour of the late Canadian public servant Eddie Goldenberg.
(Photos: Felicity Gancedo)
