Mark Lukasiewicz

Dean, The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication Hofstra University

  • Hempstead NY

Dean Lukasiewicz is a veteran producer, journalist, and media executive. Before joining Hofstra, he was SVP of specials at NBC News.

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Spotlight

1 min

Upheaval Among TV News Anchors

Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, talked to Newsday about the wave of notable news anchors and talk show hosts stepping down or being removed from their network or station lineup, including MSNBC anchor Joy Reid, NBC’s Lester Holt, CNN’s Jim Acosta, and CBS’s Norah O’Donnell. “I look at this unquestionably as the biggest collective period of upheaval in network TV news that we’ve seen in a very, very long time,” said Dean Lukasiewicz.

Mark Lukasiewicz

1 min

News Outlets Take Measures to Explain Election Reporting

Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, talked to the Associated Press about efforts by the news media to show transparency when reporting election results. “It’s absolutely important for an organization to be as transparent as they can be, especially because there’s been an effort to challenge the credibility of calls,” said Dean Lukasiewicz. At the same time, it’s hard to do in a way that makes sense to people who are not statisticians or systems operation experts, he said.

Mark Lukasiewicz

1 min

Election Night Disinformation Concerns

Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, talked to Newsday about concerns of disinformation facing television and cable networks as they prepare for their Election Day coverage. “Virtually all the mainstream media outlets, and the major networks for sure, have developed and resourced units that specialize in spotting” disinformation, he said. “They’re certainly applying the resources to combat that and to prevent their own channels from disseminating false information and I give them credit for that." However, “the fact set for one group of people is completely different from the fact set of another group,” Dean Lukasiewicz explained, because of fast-growing social media platforms like TikTok — with 170 million users in the United States alone. Dean Lukasiewicz also spoke to the Associated Press for the story, “By moving to podcasts, Harris and Trump are turning away from legacy media to spread their messages.”

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Biography

Mark Lukasiewicz is a veteran producer, journalist, and media executive who has spent his professional career telling important stories to worldwide audiences and helping media organizations deal with transformational change.

Most recently, he was senior vice president of specials at NBC News, planning and supervising coverage of major breaking news events such as the death of Osama bin Laden, the visit of Pope Francis to the United States, and presidential elections and debates from 2004 to 2016. Also at NBC, he served as NBC News? first vice president of digital media, and later as executive-in-charge of the NBC News Group Transformation Project, a multiyear redesign and reimagining of technology, workspace, and workflow across NBCUniversal?s news platforms.

Before NBC, Lukasiewicz spent 11 years at ABC News where he was executive producer of Good Morning America, senior producer of World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and senior producer of Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson. In his decades-long career, he has produced numerous live and long-form programs, winning 10 Emmys, two Peabody Awards, and the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, among other journalism and international film festival awards. He has also taught video storytelling at the Columbia Journalism School, and has been a featured speaker at professional conferences in the United States and abroad.

A native of Canada, Lukasiewicz began his career as a reporter and columnist with The Globe and Mail and later as a senior producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He earned a BA in economics (with honours) from the University of Toronto.

Industry Expertise

Writing and Editing
Media - Broadcast
Education/Learning
Print Media

Areas of Expertise

news platforms
news industry
Broadcast News
Digital Media
Media Ethics
Breaking News
media markets

Accomplishments

News & Documentary Emmy Awards (10)

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Peabody Award (2)

University of Georgia

Grand Prize - Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Awards

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial

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Education

University of Toronto

BA

Economics

1979

Languages

  • English
  • Polish

Media Appearances

Biden, Trump to Debate Earlier Than Normal

Scripps Morning News  online

2024-05-16

Dean of the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication Mark Lukasiewicz was interviewed by Scripps Morning News about President Biden and former President Trump agreeing to debates on June 27 (CNN) and September 10 (ABC), to connect with voters ahead of traditional timelines.

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NBC News Acted Fast to Land Ronna McDaniel. Her Tenure Lasted Just Days.

Wall Street Journal  print

2024-03-27

Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of the Herbert School of Communication, was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal about NBC’s hiring and then firing former RNC chief Ronna McDaniel, who they had brought on to serve as a political contributor, representing the GOP perspective.

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Tucker Carlson’s Trump Interview Starts Tough Fight to Take on Fox and Cable News

Wall Street Journal  print

2023-08-24

Dean Lukasiewicz spoke to the Wall Street Journal about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Donald Trump on X, which took place in direct competition with Fox News’ GOP debate. The article explored whether social-media platforms can mount a serious challenge to TV news.

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