Randy Douthit is a writer who has received awards and accolades for his many achievements in journalism. He is an Emmy award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and National Center for Media Literacy founder.

Randy Douthit in media

As a journalist and columnist, Douthit has written for The Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Wall Street Journal. He has won numerous awards for his writing and is a Pulitzer Prize nominee and finalist. Randy Douthit founded the National Center for Media Literacy in 2003. This non-profit organization provides education in media literacy to students of all ages worldwide through workshops, conferences, and online resources.

Douthit is a pioneer in media literacy, which is the same as media education. He is passionate about helping students become active media users instead of passive receivers. Douthit has taught in classrooms at the elementary and college level and has authored several books on media literacy.

Randy Douthit in media

He graduated from Yale University with a degree in history. Shortly after graduation, he enrolled at Oxford University as a Kennedy Scholar, where he received his doctorate in American Studies. While at Oxford, he was awarded a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study music composition at King’s College London, where he also lectured on American history, culture, and politics.

As a child, his mother read to him every night. Many nights he would sit in the back of his mother’s classroom at the University of Virginia and listen to her lecture on Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and other great American authors.

The Little Rock Nine were nine African American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. They had applied for entrance at their regular high school but were denied when the governor ordered the local National Guard commander to prevent them from entering the building. Their enrollment was initially enforced by a court order obtained after the students entered upon being informed that classes had already started for the day. When the 1957-58 school term started, student monitors accompanied the black students to protect them from harassment.