1956-2026
It is with heavy hearts and profound sadness that the Department of Communication and Media Studies announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Prof. David Skinner and his longtime partner Jennefer Laidley on Thursday, October 8, 2026. David Skinner retired from the Department of Communication and Media Studies in 2025.
David had many lives before academia. In 1984, he left his job as a car salesman to finish his BA at Simon Fraser University. There, he discovered media policy and was taught by key figures in the political economy of media in Canada, such as Robert Hackett and Richard Gruneau. He completed his Ph.D. dissertation in 1997, which focused on the political economy of English Canadian Broadcasting, and which he recently turned into a book: A Political Economy of Canadian Broadcasting: Public Good versus Private Profit (UBC Press, 2025).
Alongside his research into the political economy of the Canadian Media, David published in the areas of media democracy, and alternative and community media, including Alternative Media in Canada (2013, Edited with Kirsten Kozolanka and Patricia Mazepa, UBC Press) and Converging Media, Diverging Politics (2005, Edited with James Compton and Michael Gasher, Bloomsbury). David was more than an academic: his drive was always to mobilize research to foster community and a more just world. He was involved with the media reform movement in Canada for over twenty-five years, helping launch and organize the Media Democracy Days conference, which has been running since 2001. He presented at the Canadian Radio-Televisions and Telecommunications Commission in Ottawa under three occasions, always to defend the need for a media system that would allow a diversity of Canadian voices to be heard.
David played a pivotal role in developing the field of communication and media studies in Canada. He founded the Journalism program at Thompson Rivers University. He joined the Department of Social Science at 91亚色 in 2002, and helped establish the Department of Communication and Media Studies, and the Joint Graduate Programme in Communication and Culture. He took on many administrative roles at 91亚色, including Department Chair for two terms, MA coordinator and University Senator. He was the director of the Canadian Media Research Consortium from 2010 to 2018. David was also one of the authors of Media and Communication in Canada for four of its editions. This textbook, now in its 10th edition, has defined communication and media studies for thousands of undergraduates in Canada. David鈥檚 vision was that Canadian perspectives on media and communication are central to Canadian democratic ideals and to fostering Canada as a nation independent of big geopolitical powers. Needless to say, such contribution is as timely as ever today.
David taught the first-year Introduction to Communication and Media in Canada course at 91亚色 right up until his retirement. Alumni might remember his passionate lectures on base and superstructure and economies of scale, alongside his booming laugh, which, amplified by the sound system of a big 500-seats lecture hall, became a memorable experience.
David was a bigger than life person. Colleagues and staff remember him as a kind and generous departmental leader and mentor, who gave rides to and from campus in an icy blue Mazda Miata. When supervising graduate students, David was both a rigorous and generous intellectual. For many newly hired faculty, David was a mentor and champion who taught how to navigate the complexities of the profession. David was always about community, always about conciliation and bringing people together. Conversations with him were always frank and honest. More than anything, David knew how to crack a joke and make light of any kind of situation. David, quite simply, was a good person. He also had the messiest office in the whole department, which he promptly recreated when he moved to Gabriola Island, BC.
David was always intellectually curious and had many interests and passions beyond academia. He took sommelier courses at George Brown and hosted memorable wine parties. In his retirement, he found a new passion in paper-making, which took him on research trips to Denmark, France and Italy this past year.
His partner Jennefer Laidley was a respected poverty and income security advocate for over 20 years. She was also a member of 91亚色鈥檚 community, graduating with an M.A. in Environmental Studies in 2005. She published highly cited articles and chapters on the transformation of Toronto鈥檚 urban waterfront.
This October, David and Jennefer embarked on an epic cruise throughout Polynesia to celebrate David鈥檚 70th birthday. They lost their lives while snorkelling in a coral reef in Samoa. The shock of their deaths is reverberating in many places: they had families and countless friends and close colleagues in BC, in Toronto and beyond, and were beloved on Gabriola Island. We mourn them, knowing that they touched so many lives, left countless good memories in their wake, and worked tirelessly to bring us all together to make a better world.
Read more about David Skinner in YFile.
