January 24, 2012
By Bianca Consunji '12
To inspire students fresh from a month-long break, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism hosted an Alumni Startup Panel on January 18 during its annual Spring Prep Day, a mini-conference of academic, career, and writing and reporting advice organized for students before the semester formally begins.
The unofficial theme of the startup panel was “Digitize and Specialize,” a phrase repeated often by the 10 alumni as they discussed their startup projects—some of which were first conceived at the J-School. Current students also got a firsthand glimpse of the Columbia J-School Alumni Startup Database, a work-in-progress that features over 30 projects and contact details.
The panel was moderated by Dean of Student Affairs Sree Sreenivasan (@sree), who also shared his experience as a member of the founding team of DNAinfo.com, a hyperlocal Manhattan news site funded by the founder of Ameritrade.
The speakers, a mix of media veterans and recent graduates, included the following:
Maha Atal, M.A. '09 (@maharafiatal), co-founder (with a classmate) of PublicBusinessMedia.org
Michael Cervieri '02 (@bmunch), producer of the Future Journalism Project, exploring disruption, opportunity and innovation in journalism
Amy Costello '98 (@costello_amy), founder of TinySpark: "igniting debate about the business of doing good"
Elettra Fiumi '11 (@efiumi) and Lea Khayata '11 (@lea_k), Granny Cart Productions, interpreting heritage through a modern lens with creative corporate videos and documentaries
Mo Krochmal '95 (@krochmal), founder of Social Media News NY, an innovative news community on Facebook serving New York's social media professionals
Michael Levitin '02 (@malevitin), co-founder (with three classmates) of Associated Reporters Abroad; and co-founder and managing editor of the Occupied Wall Street Journal
Alana Newhouse '06 (@alananewhouse), founder of Tablet, the award-winning site of Jewish arts and culture
Jeff Novich '04 (@jeffnovich), founder of PatientCommunicator.com, part of Blueprint Health, a TechStars Incubator
Shane Snow '10 (@shanesnow), whose startup Contently (@contently) recently secured $2 million in funding
Alumni Startup Panel at Columbia Journalism School on Jan. 18. Photo/Ted Regencia.
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