Profile picture of Andrew DeVigal

Andrew DeVigal

Director, UO-SOJC's Agora Journalism Center
Endowed Chair in Journalism Innovation and Civic Engagement; Professor of Practice
Phone: 503-412-3677
Office: 366E White Stag Building
City: Portland
Research Interests: community-centered journalism, multimedia storytelling

Biography

Andrew DeVigal holds the endowed chair in journalism innovation and civic engagement and is the director of the Agora Journalism Center, the forum for the future of local news and civic health at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism & Communication. Our work stems from the belief that vibrant local information ecosystems are critical to civic health–defined as the ability of diverse communities to engage and work together to address shared problems. Community-centered journalism can provide quality, trusted information and improve understanding across community differences. Read Agora's latest report, Assessing Oregon’s Local News & Information Ecosystem 2022, which DeVigal co-authored.

A constant connector and bridge builder, DeVigal’s leadership at the school has led to industry-recognized initiatives such as Gather, a platform to support community-minded journalists, and the Doers Gathering, a toolkit to drive community-driven solutions addressing pressing local issues. Prior to joining the UofO, DeVigal was the multimedia editor at The New York Times where he directed the multimedia team and conceived and produced ground-breaking story forms and processes that continue to shape the industry today.

Education

BS, Computer Information Systems, San Francisco State University, 1993

Areas of Expertise:

  • Engagement and community-centered journalism
  • Innovating and strategizing digital media
  • Synthesizing ideas
  • Bringing together and leading disparate teams
  • Solving problems
  • Telling multimedia and interactive stories
  • Designing experiences with user-first focus
  • Managing projects and fostering a climate of collaboration