He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Beniger, who was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, won AAPOR’s student paper award in 1975 and went on to become president of the organisation twenty-one years later.

In a statement on AAPOR’s website current president Peter Miller said: “Jim’s deep involvement in AAPOR spanned his academic career. He was a charismatic figure who led the association into the digital age. We will miss him greatly.”

Beniger was also a professor of communication and sociology at the University of Southern California Annenberg and Princeton University. In 1986 he wrote The Control Revolution, an acclaimed study of the economic and technological origins of the information society. He was also an associate editor of the journal Communication Research from 1986 to 1993.

Beniger is survived by his wife Kay Ferdinandsen, his mother, two daughters and one sister.