The institute was founded in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford in 2006 to conduct scholarly and professional research on news media, operate the Thomson Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme, and host academic research fellows.

[citation needed] The Reuters Institute is the University of Oxford's research centre on issues affecting news media globally.

[2] The institute is chaired by Alan Rusbridger, former principal of Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford.

[3] Advisory board members include Indian media entrepreneur Ritu Kapur[4] and British life peer Baroness Wheatcroft.

[10] It also publishes an annual digital news report whose data has been referenced by journalism agencies such as PBS,[11] NHK,[12] Rappler,[13] Channel NewsAsia,[14] News24,[15] and the Poynter Institute.