Adapting Journalism to the Digital Space
NYU’s Studio 20: Digital First program trains the next generation of change-makers in journalism. Here, you will learn the fundamentals of how to create innovation in digital newsrooms and measure your ideas against real world constraints. Our students learn to plan, design, prototype, test, improve, launch, de-bug and evolve new products and better ways of working so that journalism can regain its vital connection to active publics around the globe, and earn their trust. Graduates are prepared to work across departments in what are today called “bridge roles”— the points where business, editorial, tech, and audience problems converge.
Project-Based Learning
Students in the Studio 20 program benefit from studio-style courses, in which small teams take on improvement projects that are 100 percent real because they come to us from established media companies and digital start-ups that need help with solving problems or seizing new opportunities. The goal is to find solutions and recommend innovations that actually get adopted, and to build the portfolios of students as change-makers.
Faculty
Jay Rosen
Associate Professor | Studio 20, Director
Jay Rosen has been on the faculty since 1986, and from 1999 to 2005 he served as chair of the Department. He lives in New York City.
Rosen is the author of PressThink, a weblog about journalism and its ordeals (www.pressthink.org), which he introduced in September 2003. In June 2005, PressThink won the Reporters Without Borders 2005 Freedom Blog award for outstanding defense of free expression. In April 2007 PressThink recorded its two millionth visit.
He also blogs at the Huffington Post. In July 2006 he announced the debut NewAssignment.Net, his experimental site for pro-am, open source reporting projects. The first one was called Assignment Zero, a collaboration with Wired.com. A second project is OfftheBus.Net with the Huffington Post.
Elizabeth Spiers
Adjunct Faculty | Studio 20
Elizabeth Spiers is a new media expert and entrepreneur and veteran journalist. She was previously the Editor in Chief of The New York Observer and Editorial Director of Observer Media Group. Before that, she was the founder of Breaking Media (which publishes Dealbreaker, AboveTheLaw and Fashionista) and was the founding editor of Gawker, the flagship site of Gawker Media. She has launched a variety of digital properties and products for brands, media companies, and agencies.
She is also a former financial columnist at Fortune, and writes about politics for a number of outlets, including the Washington Post and the New York Times.
She is also an advisor to various startups and a mentor in the Techstars accelerator program. She has a B.A. in Public Policy Studies with a minor in Political Science from Duke University and previously taught in SVA’s Design Research MFA program.
Carol Sternhell
Associate Professor | Director of Graduate Studies | Studio 20
Carol Sternhell writes about feminism, literature, and motherhood. Her literary criticism and essays on feminist scholarship have appeared in The Village Voice, The Nation, The New York Times Book Review, Ms., and The Women’s Review of Books. She was the founding director of NYU’s undergraduate women’s studies program and served for years as associate editor of Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Before coming to NYU, she worked as an editor at Newsday, a general assignment reporter for the New York Post, and a freelance magazine writer. She began her journalistic career as an editor of The Harvard Crimson during the days of anti-Vietnam War protest, and served as faculty advisor to NYU’s student newspaper, the Washington Square News, during our most recent war. She has recently stepped down as president of the FAS Women’s Faculty Caucus.
Professor Sternhell created the department’s study-abroad programs in London, UK; Prague, Czech Republic; and Accra, Ghana.
Victor M Ramirez
Tech Advisor | Studio 20
Victor M Ramirez is a New York City-based software developer, entrepreneur, and educator. He is a Lead Product Analytics Engineer standardizing the way data is used at The Knot Worldwide. As Lead Software Engineer, he was heavily involved in standardizing WordPress at Dow Jones and News Corp.
At NYU Studio 20, Victor teaches coding and web development to equip students with tech skills to produce their projects.
Graduate Profiles
Lindsay Abrams
Studio 20 2017
Job: Associate Producer, Media and Program Operations at Matter Ventures
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Long Island, NY
What I Do Now
I run the multi-platform media strategy for Matter, an accelerator for early stage, mission-oriented media startups. In addition to my outward facing duties, I assist the Program Director in planning and teaching design thinking workshops, the Director of Investments in sourcing and evaluating start-ups, and the Director of Partnerships in working with media organizations like the AP, the New York Times, and McClatchy.
Sheba Anyanwu
Studio 20 2017
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria
Before Studio 20
Before Studio 20 I had worked as a social media producer in two startups. I worked as a video community fellow at Storyhunter, a platform that connects freelance video journalists with publishers around the world. I created digital strategies to distribute the video content, produced editorial content for the platform and managed community events with filmmakers and documentarians.
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Emma Cillekens
Studio 20 2017
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Gold Coast, Australia
Before Studio 20
Before Studio 20 my career was mostly in traditional media; radio, television and newspapers. I spent six years as a radio presenter with the public broadcaster in Australia, the ABC. I reported to a local, state-wide and national audience. I also contributed to the ABC as a video journalist, wrote a regular blog and helped to manage our social media accounts. Prior to that I worked in newspapers with Fairfax.
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Natasha Jokic
Studio 20 2019 | Currently: Staff Writer, Buzzfeed
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Hometown: Bath, UK
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Documented NY, Buzzfeed, Axios
Final Project Partner
Highlights
2020 Gather Award Engaged Journalism, ONA
Sarah Andersen
Studio 20 2021 | Currently: SEO and Social Media Editor, The Financial Times
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Paris, France
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Financial Times, the Boston Globe,
Final Project Partner
The Financial Times
Ralph Thomassaint Joseph
Studio 20 2021 | Currently: Multimedia Journalist, Documented
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Haiti
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Final Project Partner
Ayibopost
Xavier Bartaburu
Studio 20 2020 | Currently: Brazil beat Editor, Mongabay
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Waqas Ahmed
Studio 20 2021 | Currently: Audience Analytics Lead, BlueLena
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
the Boston Globe, BlueLena,
Final Project Partner
BlueLena
Erin Mikail Staples
Studio 20 2020 | Currently: Senior Developer Advocate + Educator
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Hometown: Nampa, Idaho
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Financial Times, Talking Points Memo, Membership Puzzle Project,
Final Project Partner
Studio 20: “Viability of the Creator Economy for News Media Creators”
Priyanka Vora
Studio 20 2019 | Currently: Director of Audience, Axios
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Mumbai, India
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Documented NY, Axios, Business Insider, ProPublica
Highlights
Maznah Shehzad
Studio 20 2020 | Currently: Audience Development Specialist, Den of Geek
Location: New York, NY
Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan
During Studio 20, I worked directly with…
Financial Times, Talking Points Memo, Membership Puzzle Project,
Final Project Partner
Sahaafi Guide, “Helping Pakistani Newsrooms take a Fresh Perspective on Audience Engagement”
Highlights
Fullbright Scholar