Bhatia named new director of Reynolds Center

Peter Bhatia, the former editor and vice president of Oregon’s largest news organization, has been named the new director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Bhatia, the former top editor of The Oregonian/Oregon Media Group and current Cronkite visiting professor, will lead business journalism training efforts for the Reynolds Center, the world’s premier provider of ongoing training for business reporters and editors. The center is supported through grants from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

Bhatia joined Cronkite in summer 2014 as the Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics following a 20-year career at The Oregonian. He replaces Micheline Maynard, the former New York Times senior business correspondent, who is leaving her current position for family reasons.

“The Reynolds Center has long provided an essential service for journalism. It is a spectacular opportunity to lead it and help find new opportunities for business journalism,” Bhatia said in a statement. “We will continue to do what we do well and expand into new areas of training and content that have application in our digital news world.”

As the new director, Bhatia will set the direction for the center and develop and deliver a variety of business journalism training programs for professional journalists, including webinars, workshops and conferences.

According to Reynolds Center President Andrew Leckey, the Donald W. Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism, Bhatia’s history with the Reynolds Center began over a decade ago. He served on the board involved in approval of the initial Reynolds Center grant and, as editor of The Oregonian, hosted some of the center’s first business journalism workshops.

“We’re delighted that someone of his stature in journalism and on the boards of organizations supporting the field will lend expertise and leadership to the Reynolds Center’s ongoing development,” Leckey said in a statement.