Maryland Public Television Executive Named SGJC Board of Visitors Chair

BALTIMORE — Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication (SGJC) has announced that Travis Mitchell, senior vice president and chief content officer at Maryland Public Television (MPT) has been named chair of its Board of Visitors.

Comprised of news, production and strategic communication executives, the Board of Visitors provides the SGJC dean with counsel and support in areas including, but not limited to, fundraising and partnerships to help build industry pipelines for students and advanced training for faculty and staff. 

Dean Jackie Jones said the appointment of Mitchell, a two-time Emmy® Award winner, Morgan alumnus and a member of the Shaw University Board of Trustees, reflects “the perfect blend of industry experience and a deep understanding of Morgan’s culture and the HBCU experience, which is part and parcel of what makes our school a growing force to be reckoned with in journalism and mass communication education and profession.” 

Mitchell, who returned to Baltimore in 2020, has more than two decades of media experience. At MPT, he oversees all content created, acquired, and aired on the statewide public television network's TV channels and online properties. Among his recent accomplishments, he shepherded the production and distribution of MPT’s acclaimed 2022 national PBS documentaries about iconic Marylanders Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.

Prior to joining MPT, Mitchell served as chief content officer for University of North Carolina Television (UNC-TV). During his time in North Carolina, he provided editorial vision and garnered support for UNC-TV content on its four TV channels and its online properties. Additionally, Mitchell has 15 years of experience in nonprofit (executive/board) leadership and social entrepreneurship.

“Morgan State University is responsible for my media career,” said Mitchell. “It was after taking my first journalism class and becoming the editor of the campus newspaper, The Spokesman, that I knew a career in media was for me. The ability to serve as the chair of the Board of Visitors is way to give back to an institution that has given so much to me.”

Mitchell earned an undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in Philadelphia. He completed further executive education study at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at Clark Atlanta University.

Established in 2013, Morgan’s School of Global Journalism and Communication is one of only two Maryland-based universities with an internationally accredited journalism school. Fully accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC), SGJC is dedicated to giving voice to people who struggle to contribute to the public discourse that shapes the nation and the world through innovative teaching, cutting-edge research and exemplary service to Maryland, the nation and the world. The school seeks to instill students with the skills, knowledge and training necessary to become effective communicators and to add to the diversity of thought in the media. Today, the mission of Morgan State University's School of Global Journalism and Communication is to give voice to a broader group of people - people who struggle to contribute to the public discourse that shapes this nation and the world. We serve this cause with innovative teaching, cutting-edge research, and exemplary service to Maryland, our nation, and the world.