Journalist Sewell Chan has been named senior fellow at the USC Annenberg School Center for Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP), according to USC. This news comes after Chan was abruptly fired from the Columbia Journalism Review on April 18 following staff complaints about his behavior.
Chan joined CJR as executive editor in September of last year, and has previously served as an editor at the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and most recently the Texas Tribune. His work at USC’s CCLP will focus on press freedom issues domestically and abroad, according to his new USC webpage.
The CCLP was established in 2007 and conducts research on communication leadership, public policy and technology. Other fellows include Julia Turner, one of the high-ranking editors who left the L.A. Times earlier this year, former People Editor James Cagle and television anchor Greta Van Susteren.
In January, Chan was scheduled to speak at USC about his new role at CJR, misinformation and local news. The event, announced by CCLP Director and former Annenberg Dean Geoffrey Cowan, was later cancelled due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
On April 18, Dean Jelani Cobb announced that Chan was “no longer with” the review in an email to staff. Chan responded in a statement on X later that day, calling the decision “hasty, ill-considered and quite baffling.”
According to Chan’s statement, he was fired after three “pointed conversations” with editorial staff regarding ethical reporting practices, missing deadlines and performance issues.
“These are normal workplace interactions and I did exactly what I was hired to do, which was to provide rigorous, fair, careful editorial oversight and raise the metabolism and impact of a publication that’s supposed to monitor the media,” he wrote.
“I am speaking up because the accusations made against me cut against my long track record of mentoring, nurturing and empowering early-career journalists,” Chan continued.
“Throughout his career, Sewell Chan has been a champion of high-impact, truthful reporting and opinion,” Cowan said in USC’s press release. “We look forward to working with him on issues related to journalistic integrity, media and democracy, and new models for local news.”