Penny Abernathy

Penny Abernathy AuthorPhoto hi -res 300

Penny Abernathy

Professor, Medill School of Journalism; Author of “News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?”

Penelope (Penny) Muse Abernathy is a former senior business executive with The New York Times, Harvard Business Review and Wall Street Journal. Currently a visiting professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, Abernathy was Knight Chair in Digital Media Economics at UNC 2008-2020, with a focus on developing sustainable business strategies for news. She is author of two books and five reports on the state of local news, including "“News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?”