Eric Newton is vice president of the journalism program for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Since 2001, he has developed $200 million in grants to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression worldwide.

Before Knight, Newton was founding managing editor of the Newseum. Much of his original work remains in the heralded museum of news in Washington, D.C.  

At the Oakland Tribune, Newton was managing editor under owners Bob and Nancy Maynard, when the newspaper won 150 journalism awards, including a Pulitzer Prize.

His book projects include Crusaders, Scoundrels, Journalists; Capture the Moment and News in a New America. He co-founded the First Amendment Project to champion freedom of information. He shared a Peabody award for “Mosaic: World News from the Middle East.” He is a four-time Pulitzer Prize juror.

Newton has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Francisco State University. He holds a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Birmingham, England, where he was a Rotary International Scholar. He has taught journalism at all levels.

In 2008, Newton won the DeWitt Carter Reddick Award at the University of Texas at Austin, honoring professional service to the field of communications. Past winners include Bill Moyers, William Raspberry and Molly Ivins.