Biography of Robert Niles

A native of Los Angeles, Robert Niles edits the Online Journalism Review at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Journalism, where he also teaches.

Robert got sucked into Internet when computers and journalism collided in the early 1990's. A long-time math and computer geek, Robert turned to journalism after graduating from Northwestern University and deciding he didn't want to spend the rest of his life writing reports as a management consultant. But the lure of marathon coding sessions proved too strong. Robert soon quit his job writing editorials for a red-state newspaper, and he began making websites instead. Robert started with an online tutorial showing other journalists how to use math and data, then branched out to niche sites on theme parks and the violin.

Along the way, Robert has worked as an Internet editor for top newspapers, the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News and the Los Angeles Times, where he also wrote columns and reviews as a staff writer for the paper's Business and Calendar sections.

Robert's ThemeParkInsider.com has been named the top theme park site on the Internet by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines and has been a finalist for the Webby Award for best overall Guide/Ratings/Reviews site. In 2001, Theme Park Insider became the first website to win a major journalism award for a "citizen journalism" report when the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism honored TPI's Accident Watch with the Online Journalism Award for Service Journalism.

E-mail Robert.