R.B. Brenner

R.B. Brenner is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication and managing director of the Stanford Journalism and Democracy Initiative.

He returned to Stanford in 2018 after four years at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a tenured full professor and director of the School of Journalism. He had been a Stanford Lecturer from 2010 to 2014.

R.B.’s teaching is informed by his three-decade career as a reporter and editor. He held several prominent editing positions at The Washington Post, including Sunday Editor and Metro Editor. He was one of the primary editors of The Post’s coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2008, and played a leadership role in merging the digital and print newsrooms.

He has been a consultant for two journalism-themed films: “The Post” (2017) and “State of Play” (2009).

A graduate of Oberlin College, R.B. began his reporting career in North Carolina and also worked at newspapers in California and Florida.