Christian McDonald teaches courses where technology and journalism intersect. He's been teaching full-time at the University of Texas at Austin since 2018, and as an adjunct since 2013. He's been the innovation director for the Dallas Morning News Journalism Innovation Endowment since 2019.
McDonald worked in a number of positions at four newspapers over 28 years. His most recent professional position was as Data and Online Projects Editor at the Austin American-Statesman where he worked with reporters and editors throughout the newsroom to bring data to life through stories, interactives and news applications. He led many technical digital projects, from the birth of Statesman.com to running the organization's software development group. He was part of many award-winning projects, including the Headliners Charles E. Green Star Investigative Report of the Year, the Online News Association University of Florida Award in Investigative Data Journalism and numerous Texas APME Star Investigative and Package of the Year awards.
In the late ‘90s, McDonald helped lead the digital publishing transition at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the largest newspaper in the Southeast. He served on the Cox Olympics team during the 1996 Olympic Games. He served as assistant news editor at the East Valley publications in suburban Phoenix, and as a copy editor and page designer at the Longview (TX) News Journal.
McDonald earned his Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Christian McDonald's career has revolved around the intersection of journalism and technology. Some interests and experiences include:
- Using data to find and tell stories
- Developing news interactives
- Conceiving, designing and implementing projects and products using human-centered design
