Tom Davidson formerly built new products for Gannett, the largest U.S. news publisher, researching consumers’ needs for news and other services, and figuring out how those tools can generate revenue to support journalism. Earlier in his career, he served as chief content officer for the statewide PBS network serving North Carolina; on the corporate staffs at PBS Digital and Tribune Interactive; general manager of two Tribune Co. news sites; and as a reporter and editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Quad-City Times and other papers. In 1999, he was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford, where he studied the economics of digital publishing.

He also teaches at the University of Maryland and American University and has three adult children.