Kevin Loker is director of strategic partnerships and research at the American Press Institute, where he has spent more than a decade helping local news organizations improve their journalism and business.
His research experience in journalism includes contributing to more than a dozen studies of U.S. news consumers through the Media Insight Project, API’s collaboration with the Associated Press – NORC Center for Public Affairs Research; contributing to a major study of philanthropic funding ethics in news, as well as surveys of journalists; and serving as the research assistant for the fourth edition of The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, a widely used journalism textbook.
In addition, Loker has designed programs and partnerships to help local news innovators learn from one another. This includes summits of news leaders and experts outside of journalism working on topics such as reimagining local opinion journalism, truth-telling in a time of misinformation and polarization, and building new revenue for local news. It also includes helping news organizations use grant funding to experiment and build momentum for changes in or an expansion of their work.
Previously, he worked for the Online News Association, a membership association for journalists, and 10,000 Words, a blog about digital journalism.
Loker is an alum of George Mason University, where he studied anthropology. He grew up in South Dakota and lives in Northern Virginia.