Building trust: Dean Michael D. Bolden talks with Sara Catania (’93) about the future of journalism

Name: Building trust: Dean Michael D. Bolden talks with Sara Catania (’93) about the future of journalism
Start: 2025-10-03T16:00:00-07:00
Location: 121 Northgate Hall, # 5860, Berkeley, CA, United States, California 94720

Schedule

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025 at 04:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

121 Northgate Hall, # 5860, Berkeley, CA, United States, California 94720 | Berkeley, CA

At a time of disruption and distrust in news, a growing movement is reshaping how stories are told. The concept of “solutions journalism” looks beyond problems to examine responses — what’s working, what isn’t and what we can learn. Join us as Michael D. Bolden, UC Berkeley Journalism’s new dean and longtime newspaper reporter and editor, and Sara Catania (’93), president of Solutions Journalism Network, discuss how this shift in reporting can build trust, inspire civic engagement and connect news more deeply to people’s lives.
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Michael D. Bolden is Dean of UC Berkeley Journalism. Formerly the CEO and Executive Director of the American Press Institute (API), Bolden has had a distinguished career that has taken him from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, the John S. Knight Fellowship program at Stanford University and API. He has worked as a local reporter and national editor, a teacher and nonprofit leader.
At the San Francisco Chronicle, as director of culture and operations, one of the organization’s masthead editors, he helped the newsroom respond to online harassment and abuse. During the pandemic, he co-developed a new remote John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University to improve how journalists serve communities of color. At API, Bolden updated the organization’s focus toward inclusion, civic discourse, community engagement and newsroom sustainability to address the urgent needs of a changing field.
Bolden, who lectured at and holds a master’s degree from Stanford University, will focus on preparing the next generation of journalists to meet the evolving information needs of a complex, diverse society. He says that students must learn not only how to report and tell great stories across media, but they must understand how news organizations can function as facilitators and conveners that reinforce the social fabric of society. He sees Berkeley Journalism graduates as the next generation of empathetic news leaders who will help communities thrive.
Sara Catania (she/her) is president of the Solutions Journalism Network, working to transform journalism so that all people have access to effective, evidence-based responses to systemic problems. She serves on the national and Los Angeles boards of the Society of Professional Journalists and the program committee for the JSK Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Her experience includes more than 25 years as a reporter, editor and newsroom leader at numerous outlets including NBC, Reuters, Mother Jones, the LA Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. She is a proud North Gate grad.