Benjamin Toff

Senior Research Fellow, Reuters Institute (UK)

Toff was on the news avoidance panel at ISOJ 2023. Watch the presentation here.

@BenjaminToff
Dr. Benjamin Toff is a senior research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford as well as an assistant professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. He studies public opinion, political communication, digital media, and changing journalistic practices. At the Reuters Institute, he leads the Trust in News Project, a 3-year study of the factors driving trust and distrust toward news media in Brazil, India, the UK, and the U.S. His research has been published in the Journal of Communication, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Communication, Journalism Studies, and elsewhere. He is also an author of two book manuscripts in progress, one focused on the growing phenomenon of “news avoidance,” and the other focused on the role played by public opinion surveys in news coverage of American politics. Ben received his doctorate in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard University. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Reuters Institute from 2016-2017. Prior to his academic career, Ben worked as a professional journalist, mostly as a researcher at the New York Times.