Michael Schudson is an American academic sociologist working in the fields of journalism and its history, and public culture.

He was brought up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College, and a doctorate in sociology from Harvard University. From 1976 he was assistant professor at the University of Chicago. In 1980 he joined the faculty of University of California, San Diego, where he is Professor of Communication and Adjunct Professor of Sociology. He is also on on the faculty of The Journalism School at Columbia University.

He received a MacArthur Foundation award in 1990.