Battinto Batts

Notable work and positions

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University - Dean and Professor
Scripps Howard Foundation - Director of Journalism Strategies
Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Hampton University - Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs

Biography

Dr. Battinto L. Batts Jr. is dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He holds a doctorate in higher education management from Hampton University, a master's degree in media management from Norfolk State University and a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University. He began his career as a newspaper crime and business reporter and city editor at The Virginian-Pilot, and later worked as assistant metro editor at the Tampa Bay Times and as a higher education reporter for the Daily Press, accumulating more than 15 years of reporting and editing experience at Virginia and Florida newspapers. He subsequently served as assistant dean for academic affairs at the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University and as director of the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute there, before becoming director of journalism strategies for the Scripps Howard Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was an architect of the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism, established at the Cronkite School in 2018 as part of a $6 million Scripps Howard Foundation investment. He became dean of the Cronkite School and has since led its expansion to the ASU California Center in Los Angeles. Batts also serves in an advisory role to the CEO and staff of the Poynter Institute.