Pamela Newkirk

Pamela Newkirk, PhD, is a journalist, professor, author and multi-disciplinary scholar whose work examines contemporary and historical depictions of African Americans in popular culture. Her latest book “Diversity Inc.: The Failed Promise of Billion-Dollar Business,” exposes the decades-old practices and attitudes that have made diversity a lucrative business while they fail to realize diversity. The book was included on TIME magazine’s “Must-Read” books of 2019 and featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Chronicle of Higher Education and TIME. Her previous book, “Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga,” was awarded the 2016 NAACP Image Award and was selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice and named a Best Book of 2015 by NPR, The Boston Globe, and The San Francisco Chronicle. Dr. Newkirk has compiled and edited two collections of African American letters and is also the author of “Within the Veil: Black Journalists, White Media” which won the National Press Club Award for Media Criticism and was recently optioned for a feature film.

Prior to joining the journalism faculty at New York University she was a daily reporter at four news organizations including New York Newsday where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting team. She holds journalism degrees from Columbia and New York universities, and a PhD from Columbia University. Her articles have appeared in a number of leading publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and TIME magazine.