Clark, John

John Clark is the first executive director of PILOT at the National Association of Broadcasters. With over 20 years of digital media experience in local broadcasting, R&D programs and education, John leads the initiative to bring together companies, organizations and educators to advance broadcaster innovation in a multi-platform media environment. 

Before joining NAB, John was the executive director of the Reese News Lab in the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina, where he taught media innovation and entrepreneurship and worked with graduate and undergraduate students to develop, test and launch new, sustainable products for media. 

Prior to UNC, John was the general manager of WRAL.com, one of the nation’s most successful local news websites. Under his leadership, WRAL.com received the Edward R. Murrow Award for best broadcast-affiliated website and the Editor & Publisher award for best local TV-affiliated website. 

John led the technical development of the nation’s first local television news application on mobile phones and managed content and development for an experimental service to deliver news and information through digital television sub-channels. John has earned patents for broadcast distribution over the internet and was a winner of the Knight News Challenge, UNC’s Harvey Award for commitment to innovation, and a Knight Prototype Grant. John is a native of Townsville, N.C., and holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from Campbell University, as well as an M.B.A. from Campbell University’s Lundy-Fetterman School of Business. He resides in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., with his wife and two children.