David H. Weaver was born in 1946 in northwest Indiana and attended Indiana University Bloomington as an undergraduate and graduate student in the 1960s, earning his A.B. (1968) and M.A. (1969) in journalism. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in mass communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974. His areas of interest include: journalism, attitudes of journalists toward journalism, women and minorities in media, journalists and the media, and national media.

Weaver came to IU as an Assistant Professor of Journalism in 1974, rising through the ranks to become Professor in 1983, and the Roy W. Howard Research Professor in 1988. His courses consisted of undergraduate and graduate courses covering research methods, public opinion, media and government, and depth reporting. Weaver retired in 2011 with the title Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Journalism. He is the recipient of the 1983 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Krieghbaum Under 40 Award which recognizes excellence in teaching, research and service in journalism; the 2005 Trayes Award for outstanding contributions to mass communication scholarship; the 1986, 1996, and 2006 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism; and the 2006 AEJMC Presidential Award for outstanding service to journalism education. He was also named a Fellow of the International Communication Association (ICA) in 2000 for his research contributions.

His publications include: Global Journalism Research (2008), The American Journalist in the 21st Century (2007), Mass Communication Research and Theory (2003), The Global Journalist (1998), Communication and Democracy (1996), The American Journalist in the 1990s (1996), The Formation of Campaign Agendas (1991), Contemporary Public Opinion (1991), The American Journalist (1986; 2nd Ed. 1991), Videotex Journalism (1983), Media Agenda-Setting in a Presidential Election (1981), and Newsroom Guide to Polls and Surveys (1980, 1990). He has also published numerous book chapters, articles and reports on U.S. journalists, media agenda-setting, newspaper readership, foreign news coverage, and journalism education.