Associate Professor, USC Annenberg

David Craig teaches graduate courses about media industries and creator cultures. As a field-leading scholar in creator and influencer studies, he conducts research about global, Chinese, and peripheral creator cultures as well as media history and politics. His forthcoming books include Creator Nationalism (Polity, 2028) and Global Entertainment Media II (Routledge, 2028) with co-author Professor Tanner Mirrlees, and the co-edited Companion for Creator and Influencer Studies (Routledge, 2028). He is the USC Director of the MA program in Global Media and Communication in partnership with The London School of Economics, Co-Director of the Annenberg Creator Research Network (ACoRN), a visiting scholar at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the Institute for Cultural and Creative Industries, and a faculty associate at Harvard Law in the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He also serves on the editorial board of leading academic journals and has produced multiple conferences in partnership with the International Communication Assocaition.

Faculty Profile

2023 – present

Faculty Associate, Berkman Klein Center

Visiting Scholar, Rebooting Social Media

The Berkman Klein Center’s Institute for Rebooting Social Media (RSM) is a three-year, “pop-up” research initiative to accelerate progress towards addressing social media’s most urgent problems, including misinformation, privacy breaches, harassment, and content governance. At RSM, Craig conducted research into “Creators for Change”, a term borrowed from the now defunct YouTube program, to describe those creators who are explicitly aligned with and advocating for political, social justice, and cause-based efforts.Craig will interrogate how creators navigate their commercial and cultural interests and engage their communities around these concerns on and across platforms, as well as their collaborative practices with activist and impact organizations throughout the political and sociocultural spectrum.

Annenberg Creator Research Network (ACoRN)

The Annenberg Creator Research Network (ACoRN) is dedicated to the research, teaching, and pedagogy of creators and influencers harnessing internet technologies for economic, political and socio-cultural value. The group offers a forum for scholars, students and industry professionals to explore the complex dynamics of creator labor, management and practices, including content creation, entrepreneurship, and community and fan engagement across platforms and related applications along with consideration of the societal-level disruption generated by the emergence of global creator cultures. Through collaborative research, guest speakers and co-authoring opportunities, ACoRN aims to foster a community of critical inquiry and generate scholarship and shared principles around ethical practices, sustainability, proper governance and accountability.