New endowed chair in Newhouse School will support journalism innovation

Digital journalist Dan Pacheco was named Horvitz Chair last month

The Peter A. Horvitz Endowed Chair in Journalism Innovation, newly established in Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, will help lead the school’s continued efforts toward expanding teaching and innovation in digital and new media. The chair is funded by Newhouse alumnus Peter Horvitz ’76, chairman, president and CEO of Horvitz Newspapers, LLC. “I can think of no better way to support the future of journalism and give back to the profession I love than to fund this new chair at Newhouse,” he says. 

Digital journalist Dan Pacheco was recently named Horvitz Chair, and will join the newspaper and online journalism faculty this fall. Pacheco helped launch Washingtonpost.com; managed user-contributed media products at AOL; integrated social networking into his newspaper work at the Bakersfield Californian; ran a $837,000 Knight News Challenge-funded project (Printcasting); and launched his own eBook startup (BookBrewer). 

“Dan brings an extensive background in digital journalism, innovation and technology to this new position,” says Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham. “I am delighted that he will be joining us.” 

“The Internet and mobile have disrupted the way news is delivered and paid for,” says Pacheco. “But the good news for journalists is that these vehicles are creating more demand for accurate, compelling information than ever before. I look forward to helping students look past failing business models and legacy media forms, and instead imagine and even launch new journalistic enterprises created for the digital world where we all live. The future for these types of entrepreneurial journalists is bright.” 

Follow Pacheco on Twitter at @pachecod.