The Society of Professional Journalists has honored Robert with the Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award.
Each year, SPJ honors an outstanding journalism educator who has made an exceptional contribution to the profession and/or journalism education.
During his tenure at USC, Robert has focused on exploring and developing the intersection of technology and journalism. In 2014, for example, he conceptualized and led a class called “Glass Journalism,” dedicated to experimenting with Google Glass and other emerging wearable technologies to produce stories.
Prior to joining USC, Robert was Director of Development for The Seattle Times, where he worked from 2002 until 2009. He previously worked as a Web designer for El Salvador’s newspaper La Prensa Gráfica, as Web producer for The San Francisco Chronicle and online editor for The San Francisco Examiner.
He is the co-founder of #wjchat, a weekly Twitter forum that engages web journalists from around the world.
Robert will be honored at the Excellence in Journalism 2015 conference in Orlando, which will be held September 18-20.