Jay T. Harris is a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California where he holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Journalism and Communications.
He joined the faculty of the school in 2002 and is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy.
Harris has worked in journalism and journalism education for 35 years. He serves on the board of the Pulitzer Prizes.

From 1994 to 2001 Harris was publisher of the San Jose Mercury News. During his seven years as publisher the paper achieved national recognition. The Columbia Journalism Review ranked it one of the ten best newspapers in the country.

Harris joined Knight Ridder, the parent company of the Mercury News, in 1985 as executive editor of the Philadelphia Daily News. From 1988 to 1993 he worked at the company’s corporate headquarters holding positions including vice president of operations.

Earlier in his career Harris worked as a reporter for the Wilmington (DE) News-Journal papers, a national correspondent and columnist for the Gannett News Service, and as an assistant professor of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

His professional work has been recognized with awards from numerous universities, public service and social justice organizations, and national journalism and journalism education organizations. He has received honorary doctorates from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, his alma mater, and Santa Clara University in California.