University of Missouri

Barbara Cochran is the Curtis B. Hurley Chair of Public Affairs Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism. She is also president emeritus of both the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) and the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation (RTNDF), the world’s largest professional organization devoted to electronic journalism, representing local and network news executives in broadcasting, cable and other electronic media in more than 30 countries.

Prior to joining RTNDA, Cochran worked as a journalist and news executive in Washington, D.C., for 28 years, 11 in print and 17 in broadcasting. Some of the positions she held were: vice president and Washington bureau chief, CBS News; executive producer, NBC’s Meet the Press; and vice president of news, National Public Radio.

In 2009, Cochran was honored at the Radio and Television Digital News Foundation’s 20th Anniversary First Amendment Award Dinner and received the Giants of Broadcasting Award from the Library of American Broadcasting. She has a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York and a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Follow Barbara Cochran on twitter: @BarbaraCochran