"The primary purpose of journalism is to serve democracy by providing citizens with vetted information and analysis they can use to make decisions about their lives. That’s the way I practice and teach it."
David Zurawik
Assistant Professor of PracticeCommunications and Media Studies
In 2022, David Zurawik became a media analyst for CNN. For 32 years before that, he was TV/media critic at the Baltimore Sun. Before that, he was TV critic/columnist at the Dallas Times Herald and pop culture correspondent at the Detroit Free Press.
Zurawik, a regular guest on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” from 2005 to 2022, earned an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin in specialized reporting (pop culture) and a Ph.D. in American Studies (pop culture and media studies) from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has taught at Goucher for 28 years.
In 2015 and again in 2017, he won the National Press Club’s Arthur Rowse Award for Criticism. In 2017, he also won the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State University’s Bellasario College of Communications. He is a five-time finalist in commentary for Syracuse University’s Mirror Awards.
Zurawik is the author of “The Jews of Prime Time,” a look at 50 years of Jewish identity in network television (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, 2003).
Publications
Books
“The Jews of Prime Time.” Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, 2003.
Recent CNN articles
“The writing was on the wall for Ronna McDaniel”. March 2024.
“This overshadowed Trump ruling may be the one that matters most”.
February 2024.
“Baltimore Sun will fall victim to new owner’s politics”. February 2024.
“Why newsroom layoffs are so dangerous”. January 2024.
“How Rupert Murdoch helped wreck American politics – and media”.
September 2023.
“How Trump lost the war of images”. June 2023.
“Tucker Carlson’s departure will change cable TV for the better”. April 2023.
“The real Loser in the Fox News Case”. April 2023.
“Fox News was never a real news network”. March 2023.
Featured in Other Articles
“Sinclair’s formula for local News: crime, homelessness, illegal drugs.”
February 2024.
“Why the right-wing takeover of Maryland's largest newspaper is ringing alarm bells”. January 2024.
“Baltimore Sun staff clash with new owner: 'Don't know how to reason with him'”. January 2024.
“Baltimore Sun sold to Sinclair's David D. Smith”. January 2024.
“Right-wing Sinclair owner buys Baltimore Sun”. January 2024.
“The Baltimore Sun media group sold to local businessman David Smith”.
January 2024.
External Awards, Honors, Grants
2017 - Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State University’s Bellasario College of Communications
2015 and 2017 - National Press Club’s Arthur Rowse Award for Criticism
Five-time finalist in commentary for Syracuse University’s Mirror Awards
News
- February 3, 2023
With a strong foundation from their faculty mentor David Zurawik, these young alums are the next generation of award-winning journalists.
- September 20, 2021
David Zurawik, a professor in Goucher College's Communication & Media Studies department, was a featured guest on the September 19, 2021 episode of CNN's "Reliable Sources."
- March 23, 2018
The Baltimore Sun media critic and Goucher communication and media studies assistant professor wins Penn State's annual Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism.
- June 26, 2017
David Zurawik, communications and media studies assistant professor, has won the 2017 National Press Club's Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism.