S. Derek Turner

Derek leads Free Press’ research and policy analysis and advises the co-CEOs and policy team. Since joining Free Press full time in 2006, Derek’s landmark research has revealed racial inequities in the digital divide, investigated the dismal state of media ownership among women and people of color, and exposed waste in federal broadband programs. He tracks the media, tech and telecommunications industries and writes on a wide range of policy issues, including broadband competition, broadcast consolidation, the economics of the media industry, and the future of journalism. He is the lead author of the book Changing Media: Public Interest Policies for the Digital Age, and his work has appeared in Ars Technica, Salon and Wired. Derek holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received the 2006 Smolensky Prize for Outstanding Advanced Policy Analysis.