What does engagement journalism mean to our alumni?
We asked a few former students to tell us what they learned in the Newmark J School at CUNY’s Engagement Journalism MA program and how they explain what they do
There is no one better at explaining what engagement journalism is all about than our brilliant graduates. We recently made some videos of them discussing our program and how they talk to others about what engagement journalism is. If you are a prospective student or just someone curious about engagement journalism, I think you’ll love checking these out.
For context, engagement journalism can be hard to define; different people and news organizations have their own ways of thinking about the role and its responsibilities.
As the program director, I’ve written about this challenge and my preferred definition, while also suggesting that we allow for some flexibility and nuance in how we see its possibilities.
But don’t listen to me; listen to the folks doing the work in newsrooms every day. Although we developed these videos to promote the program, we think they are useful to engagement professionals grappling with how to explain their work.
First, in less than three minutes, you can hear from several alumni in this compilation : Engagement Journalism = Community + Conversation + Collaboration
Daniel Laplaza ’19, is a community engagement producer with THE CITY, where he contributes to the The Open Newsroom, an initiative to make local news collaborative.
- Kristine Villanueva ’17 is Project Editor, Equally Informed at Resolve Philly. Previously, she held engagement roles at the Center for Public Integrity and Politico. She recently wrote a piece for Nieman Reports, 5 Things I Learned as an AAPI Engagement Editor Covering Anti-Asian Hate. She co-teaches our community practicum course.
Allen Arthur, ’16, is the online engagement manager at Solutions Journalism Network and a freelance journalist who works primarily with currently and formerly incarcerated people, their families, and those who serve them. Allen won the Stephen B. Shepard Prize for Investigative Reporting for a piece that ran on the front pages of USA Today and The Tennessean, as well as The Marshall Project. His work prompted changes in that state’s solitary confinement laws.
Luis Echegaray, ’15, is a soccer host and on-air analyst at CBS Sports Digital; previously, he worked for Sports Illustrated and was a fellow at The Guardian. He also teaches social media tools in the engagement journalism program.
Diara Townes, ’19, is a program manager at Aspen Digital, supporting its Commission on Information Disorder and a variety of new and ongoing initiatives. She teaches an advanced research course at our school and previously worked as an investigative researcher and the community engagement lead for the nonprofit misinformation research organization First Draft.
And a bonus:
Allison Dikanovic, ’20, is an Open Newsroom Fellow at The City, where she launched an email/SMS newsletter about renting and working in NYC during the pandemic and co-planned/facilitated “Open Newsroom” meetings at libraries collaborating with residents to improve local reporting. She just won the The Sidney Hillman Foundation Award for Social Justice Reporting. Awards ceremony video:
