David Protess

Professor of Journalism and Faculty Associate,
Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
d-protess@northwestern.edu
Additional biographical information

David Protess earned his Ph.D. from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. His research in the past decade has focused on the media's role in social policy formation, press coverage of racial issues, and the relationship of media to the law. His two most recent books, Gone in the Night (Delacorte, 1993)and A Promise of Justice (Hyperion, 1998) received Best Book Awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).

Protess has received several top teaching awards from Northwestern, including the Charles Deering McCormick Chair for Teaching Excellence, as well as the Amoco Foundation Faculty Award in 1993. He won the Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism in 1989. In July 2002, the National Education Association presented him with its annual H. Councill Trenhold Memorial Award for the impact his work has had on human and civil rights. Protess is a former research director for the Better Government Association where he supervised all investigative research projects.

Current and Recent Projects

Media and Agenda-Setting. A multidisciplinary group of seven IPR faculty directed by Protess spent a decade studying the agenda-building effects of investigative reporting. Using a field study design, the group conducted six case studies of the impact of news exposes on public opinion and social policymaking. A co-authored book, The Journalism of Outrage: Investigative Reporting and Agenda-Building in America was published in 1991. Protess also co-edited the book, Agenda Setting: Readings on Media, Public Opinion, and Policymaking (1991).

Media, Race, and Governance. This research project focused on the media's portrayal of various aspects of the violence in Los Angeles and other cities after the verdict in the Rodney King beating case. Protess presented two papers from this research at a national conference the group sponsored at Northwestern in 1994. His papers were on the media portrayal of hate crimes in Chicago in 1993 and a comparative analysis of the portrayal by four newspapers of the legal proceedings in the King beating case compared with the actual events. Earlier work on this subject was published in a monograph (with James Ettema), "Uncovering Race: Press Coverage of Racial Issues in Chicago" (1989).

Media, Law and Governance. In a new phase of this research, a collaborative group of researchers are exploring media depictions of legal issues that have policy relevance, particularly those involving wrongful accusations and convictions. Protess's book, Gone in the Night :The Dowaliby Family's Encounter with Murder and the Law (1993) documents the role played by journalists, law enforcement agents and government officials in shaping judicial decision-making in the trial and appellate courts. It was cited as the Best Book of 1993 by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).