John Robinson joins Elon University Poll team

The former editor of the News & Record in Greensboro will serve as director of communications. Follow the poll on Twitter: @elonpoll

*****

John L. Robinson, a nationally recognized voice on the use of social media and journalism who stepped down in December as editor of the (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record, has joined the Elon University Poll as director of communications.

He will oversee the creation and growth of the poll’s presence on various social media platforms. He will also join faculty in the Elon University Department of Political Science and Public Administration in analyzing poll findings for media.

Robinson departed the News & Record after 37 years in the newspaper business, 27 of which were with the Greensboro daily that was among the first to develop a social media culture in 2004 with the creation of staff-written blogs. He has worked in newspapers as a reporter, city editor, editorial page editor, team management coach and, beginning in January 1999, editor.

While editor, the News & Record won nearly 200 N.C. Press Association awards, a Batten Award for Innovation in Journalism, two first place awards for General Excellence in the Missouri Journalism contest and numerous APSE awards. It twice made the Editor & Publisher “10 Newspapers That Do It Right” annual list.

Robinson currently serves as an adjunct instructor in the School of Communications at Elon University. Earlier in his career, he worked at the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., the Asheville Citizen-Times, and the Monroe Enquirer-Journal.