Joshua Benton (born 1975) is an American journalist and writer. He is director of the

Nieman Journalism Lab The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. It was founded in February 1938 as the result of a $1.4 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, which he founded in 2008. Before moving to Harvard, Benton was an investigative reporter and columnist for ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...

'' and a staff writer for '' The Toledo Blade''. He won numerous national awards for his reporting, most notably on education. He wrote a series of stories on cheating on Texas' state test, the

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) was the fourth Texas state standardized test previously used in grade 3-8 and grade 9-11 to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required ...

, which led to state reforms and the permanent closure of the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District.Asimov, Nanette and Todd Wallack
"Stakes too high to just check erasures, experts say"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'', May 13, 2007. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, a Pew Fellow in International Journalism at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, and a Jefferson Fellow at the

East-West Center East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. At

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, he was editor-in-chief of '' The Yale Herald''. Benton was also an early blogger at crabwalk.com.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Joshua Living people Harvard University staff Yale University alumni Nieman Fellows 1975 births Writers from Louisiana American male journalists Cajun writers The Dallas Morning News people