Your Guide to Executive Learning

All experts
AboutBiographyCases

William McKeen

Chair, Department of Journalism and Professor, Journalism at Boston University

Schools

  • Boston University

Links

Biography

Boston University

William McKeen is a journalism professor and chairman of the College of Communication Department of Journalism at Boston University.

McKeen is the author of seven books and the editor of four more, including Mile Marker Zero (Crown, 2011), a non-fiction narrative about Key West; Outlaw Journalist(W.W. Norton, 2008), a biography of Hunter S. Thompson; Highway 61 (W.W. Norton, 2003), a memoir of a 6,000-mile road trip with his teen-age son; and two anthologies, Rock and Roll is Here to Stay (W. W. Norton, 2000) and Literary Journalism: A Reader (Wadsworth, 2000).

His most recent book is an anthology of stories about growing up in Florida called Homegrown(University Press of Florida, 2012). In addition to writing two stories in the collection, McKeen gathered contributions from Carl Hiaasen, Michael Connelly, Kristin Harmel, Fabiola Santiago and Tom Petty.

Before beginning his teaching career, he worked for several newspapers and magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, The American Spectator, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.), The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post and The Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times.

His writing has appeared in Holiday, American History, Maxim, The Saturday Evening Post and many other newspapers and magazines. He has appeared on “The Today Show,” “The O’Reilly Factor,” “The CBS Evening News” and many other news programs.

His major teaching areas are literary journalism, history of journalism, reporting, feature writing and history of rock’n’roll.

Read about executive education

Cases

William McKeen, Boston University – Charles Manson and the American Dream

January 25, 2018

The Academic Minute William McKeen William McKeen, professor of journalism at Boston University, discusses the changing nature of the American Dream through the years and how Charles Manson played a part in its evolution… View full article

View full article

Charles Manson and the perversion of the American dream

November 30, 2017

The Conversation William McKeen When Charles Manson died in November 2017, his name carried weight even among those who weren’t alive when he committed his crimes… Expert quote: “As I was researching my book on Los Angeles in the 1960s, I was struck by how fame – more than art, more than religion, more than […]

View full article

Rolling Stone Stays Focused as Defamation Trial Is Set to Begin

October 17, 2016

New York Times William McKeen, College of Communication With his spiky gray hair and the top few buttons of his shirt undone, Jann S. Wenner looked every bit the aging but still vigorous lion of pop-culture media as he sat in his cavernous Manhattan office last week, editing by pen and paper a coffee-table book […]

View full article

Stories of the iconic ‘Johnny B. Goode’ scene in ‘Back to the Future’

October 21, 2015

HitFix William McKeen, College of Communication How Michael J. Fox playing the guitar just like ringing a bell secured the movie’s pop culture status… Expert quote: “In the mid ’50s you look at who the other artists were that were emerging, you had Fats Domino and Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis playing piano. But […]

View full article

Google removes author information from search results

September 1, 2014

Christian Science Monitor William McKeen, College of Communication Take a look at Google News and you’ll notice something different. Absent from the clusters of articles populated with various stories on similar topics and themes are the names and information of the individuals who wrote the articles… Expert quote: “It’s not like it isn’t hard enough to get […]

View full article

Was JFK’s assassination a watershed moment in the redefining of journalism?

November 17, 2013

The Register-Mail William McKeen, College of Communication When you talk to people who remember John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assassination, they overwhelmingly share the same collective reminiscence: They watched events unfold throughout four days of uninterrupted network TV news coverage… Expert quote: “TV had been a novelty until the beginning of 1960s.” View full article

View full article

Journalist jobs are picking up

August 15, 2013

CNNMoney.com William McKeen, College of Communication Jobs for journalists are on the upswing… Expert quote: “Being a journalist is more of a calling than a job.” View full article

View full article

What if ‘In Cold Blood’ got it wrong about Walker murders?

December 9, 2012

Herald Tribune William McKeen, College of Communication The taut prose of the book “In Cold Blood” propelled Truman Capote into the literary stratosphere in 1965… View article

View full article

No booze, but still plenty of spin at Circus Circus carousel

July 19, 2012

Las Vegas Review-Journal William McKeen, College of Communication “If I had a Fuzzy Navel right now, this would be perfect.”… View article

View full article

William McKeen wins Florida Book Awards top honor for ‘Mile Marker Zero’

February 19, 2012

Gainesville Sun William McKeen, College of Communication William McKeen blames his cold on the New York Giants… View article

View full article

Other experts

Peter Boumgarden

Peter Boumgarden is an associate professor of management at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and faculty affiliate at the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan / Ross Business School, a center focused on business in emerging markets. At Hope, Professor Boumgarden teaches Manag...

Dorothy Lazovik

Dorothy Lazovik is a leadership brand specialist, cosh, facilitator, guest speaker and a mother.  Since starting her business in 2002, she has worked with leaders and organizations that are fully committed to getting real about who they are and playing bigger. As a former executive in the US ret...

Philip Greisen

Philip Greisen is a senior safety consultant and safety product development manager for PROSAFE Solutions, Inc. He is an experienced safety professional with experience in overseeing safety programs for construction clients. Philip is co-chairperson of the Georgia ASSE Construction Division and ...

Looking for an expert?

Contact us and we'll find the best option for you.

Something went wrong. We're trying to fix this error.