Jared Schroeder
Professor
Journalism Studies
Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies; Donald W. Reynolds Distinguished Faculty Fellow214 Reynolds Journalism Institute
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, MO 65211
- Press Rights
- Emerging Technology (AI, deepfakes, etc.)
- Freedom of Expression
- First Amendment
Jared Schroeder is the Lee Hills Endowed Chair in Free-Press Studies and a professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. His research and teaching specialize in First Amendment theory and law, with particular concern for the past, present, and future of press freedoms in democratic society.
An advocate for free-press rights, Schroeder regularly writes, testifies, and speaks throughout the U.S. about the crucial role a free press plays in democracy. He has written dozens of articles for popular and trade publications, such as USA Today, Columbia Journalism Review, Niemen Reports, Slate, The Hill, and major newspapers.
Schroeder’s research includes both historical contexts and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and social media. He has authored four books, including The Structure of Ideas: Mapping a New Theory of Free Expression in the AI Era, published in 2024, and The Penumbra Problem, which will be published in 2027. He has also published more than two dozen scholarly articles in a broad spectrum of academic journals.
Schroeder won the Harry W. Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research in Media Law and Policy in 2022 for his article, Fixing False Truths: Rethinking Truth Assumptions and Free-Expression Rationales in the Networked Era. He has presented in top-paper research panels at the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), National Communication Association (NCA), and International Communication Association (ICA). He is the former head of the AEJMC’s Law & Policy Division.
Schroeder teaches undergraduate and graduate communication law courses at the School of Journalism and contributes chapters to communication-law textbooks used throughout the U.S., including The Law of Public Communication, Social Media and the Law, and Communication and the Law.
Schroeder was on faculty at Southern Methodist University for eight years before coming to the Missouri School of Journalism. He was an award-winning journalist before transitioning to academia.
Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies
The Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies is named for Lee Hills, who had a long and varied newspaper career. He worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, news editor, editorial writer, editor, managing editor, executive editor, and publisher and CEO of two major newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and the Miami Herald. Hills, who attended the Missouri School of Journalism between 1927 and 1929, was also the first chairman and CEO of Knight-Ridder Newspapers. The Hills Chair also is part of a national network of Knight Chairs in Journalism, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Updated: August 18, 2026