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Photograph of Amy Eisman

Amy Eisman Assistant Professor Journalism

Degrees
BA University of Pennsylvania; MA Â鶹´«Ã½

Bio
Amy Eisman is an Assistant Professor in the Journalism Division and the former division director (2018-2023). She has run several programs at SOC as well as teaches ethics, writing, journalism, digital content and entrepreneurship. From 2015-2017 she co-facilitated the JoLT program exploring the intersection of gaming and journalism. She has directed the MA in Interactive Journalism; the MA in Media Entrepreneurship and the Writing Program in addition to her director role. In 2015, she was named among the 100 Tech Titans in digital Washington by . Eisman was with Gannett for 17 years, first at USA TODAY and later as Executive Editor of USA WEEKEND. Eisman was also a managing editor at AOL, a Fulbright lecturer in Moscow and has trained newsrooms on web content and writing. She co-authored online for Gannett about breaking news online, interactivity and database journalism and co-wrote a module for Knight Citizen News Network. She’s held workshops at the washingtonpost.com, Freedom Forum, VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague and Moscow. She co-chaired the 2010 conference and in 2011 presented in Vladivostok about digital journalism. She was the founding chair of ONA's MJ Bear Fellowship committee, honoring digital journalists under 30, and judges the White House Correspondents' Association Awards. Currently, she serves on a PBS committee reviewing Editorial Standards and Policies.
See Also
JoLT Project: Commuter Challenge Game
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Fall 2024

  • COMM-320 Reporting

  • COMM-724 Reporting of Public Affairs

Spring 2025

  • COMM-409 Journalism Ethics

  • COMM-720 Capstone Seminar in Journalism

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Media Appearances

  • Interview, Buzzfeed, on charging tech giants for news content, April, 2020

  • Author, tips for interns working remotely during pandemic, NPC Jour. Institute Spring 2020

  • Interview, DCist, how to use former Newseum space, 2019

  • Interview, The Eagle, Students drawn to investigative reporting in Trump era, October. 2018

  • Interview , February 2017

  • to Help Foster the Spirit of Entrepreneurship on Campus

  • covers VotingYoung class project
  • Washington Times on teaching Twitter on college campuses, September 2009
  • "Why is Â鶹´«Ã½ becoming center for new journalists" June, 2009
  • on navigating industry change
  • Interviewed on XM's POTUS '08 channel at April 11, '08 opening of Newseum
  • USA TODAY's 25th Anniversary
  • The Web and Writing for Mass Communication
  • Quoted in in UAE about 9-11 class project

Professional Presentations

  • Presenter in webinar of the new PBS Editorial Standards rollout to stakeholders, November 2018; Panelist for PBS Annual Meeting May 2023
  • Member WAMU Journalism Task Force on Editorial Independence and Integrity, 2018
  • Member, PBS Editorial Standards and Review Committee, 2017-2018
  • Advisory Board, Power Shift Project, promoting workplace integrity for women in news, 2018 - present
  • Moderator, Covering DC: Q&A with ABC Sr. White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, SOC '99, October 2018
  • Panelist, Newstrition: What's in Your News?, Freedom Forum Insitute at Newseum, October 2018
  • Panelist, Title IX & Tacos: #MeToo Edition, AU, April 2018
  • Panelist, "Power Shift Project: Power to the Interns," Newseum Institute, March 2018
  • Moderator, "Wonder Women Unite! Navigating the Digital Workplace," ONA17, October 2017
  • Fake News: How to be a Critical Thinker in the Age of Social Media, MAPS, June 2017
  • Presentation, Trends in Digital Media Landscape, Preservation magazine, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Dec. 2016
  • Interview, "Use of Images in Social Media," National Press Club , January 2016
  • Visiting Faculty, Danish Newsroom Challenge, Poynter Institute, November 2015
  • Moderator, What Journalists Can Learn from Game Designers, ONA conference, Fall 2015
  • PR News Webinar, "Essential Skills of Effective PR Writing," June 2014
  • Moderator, "Branding Yourself (Or your Company) in a Digital World," AUSOC at 1776, June 2014
  • Roundtable participant, ICFJ: "Back in the Newsroom Fellowships," May 2014
  • Panelist, "Teaching Entrepreneurship & Pitch Contest," JournalismInteractive, College Park, Md., April 2014
  • Speaker, New Media Landscape, PR News' Media Relations conference, Dec. 2013
  • Panelist, "What is the Role of Student Media?" AU SOC, September 2012
  • Speaker, "Technology and the Classroom," faculty of School of Architecture and Planning, Catholic University of America, August 2012
  • Panelist, Social Learning Summit 2012, AU Social Media Club, March 2012
  • Presenter, Teach-A-Thon, "" Journalism Interactive, University of Maryland, October 2011
  • Panelist, AEJMC regional Idea Summit on Technology in the Classroom, AU, June 2011
  • Speaker on World Press Freedom Day, , Russia, May 2011. Also visited various journalism programs and classes to talk about new media. Photos
  • Panelist, How Internet Aggregators are Affecting Journalism, AU Washington College of Law, March 2011
  • Participant in J-Lab's January 2011
  • Co-Chair, ONA10, the annual conference of the Online News Association, Washington, DC, October 2010
  • Panelist, Rebooting the Curriculum: Teaching Journalism in a Digital Tempest; AEJMC, Denver, August 2010
  • Panelist, Writing Across Platforms; Penn Communications Day, UPenn, May 21, 2010
  • Speaker on New Media Landscape at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; George Mason University, Feb. 4, 2010
  • Speaker at JEA/NSPA Fall National High; School Journalism Convention, Washington, D.C., on Media Landscape, Nov. 13, 2009
  • Online News Association, hosted panels on , and on companies hiring journalists, San Francisco, October, 2009
  • Quoted in AU; Center for Social Media white paper about best practices in digital journalism
  • Panelist on Social Media panel, Lockheed Martin, September 2009
  • Speaker, New Trends in Public Diplomacy: The Future of Media, Foreign Services Institute, June 2009
  • Speaker on Web 2.0, Unlocking Online Resources for the Washington, D.C., chapter of NBC Universal's African Â鶹´«Ã½ Forum, October 2008
  • Panel moderator at the Online News Association annual conference, Washington, D.C. The first, at J-Lab's preconference workshop, Building Innovation in the Curriculum. The second was "So you want to teach?" for potential first-time faculty, September 2008
  • Panelist at the news market's Digital Marketing and Online Video for Public Relations and Public Affairs, National Press Club, June 2008
  • Panelist at Association of Health Care Journalists, Multimedia Tools for Telling Stories, Arlington, Va., March 2008
  • Moderated panel of USA TODAY editors on newspaper's 25th anniversary, September, 2007
  • Freedom Forum Online Multimedia Reporting Seminar, Nashville, workshop on Web writing and editing, Aug. 12-17- 2007
  • Freedom Forum, conference call to 100-plus journalists on how to write for the Web, April 26, 2007
  • National Press Club, Washington, DC, participated in panel, New Trends in Electronic Media, April 3, 2007

Professional Services

Conducted Web-writing workshops

  • DJNF presentation, Writing for Digital, AU, Summer, 2024
  • WTOP, Writing Effective Headlines, Summer, 2023
  • WTOP.com, Writing Effective Headlines, July 2017
  • Big Heart Pet Brands, January 2016
  • BNA, Washington, D.C., July/August 2011
  • Bread for the World, Washington, D.C., March, June 2011
  • Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague June 2010
  • Thomas B. Fordham Institute, January, 2010
  • Maynard Institute, , June, 2009
  • sports editors, February 2009
  • Kaiser Family Foundation's 2008 Washington, Sept. 2008
  • , Web writing, March 2008
  • , Web writing, February 2008
  • annual convention, 'Think Web first,' Oct. 26, 2007
  • , October, 2007
  • Freedom Forum, , Nashville, Aug., 2007
  • Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Moscow Sept. 2006
  • Prague July 2006, March 2007
  • November 2006, July 2008, March 2009
  • Washingtonpost.com, Washington, DC Spring 2006, Spring 2007
  • SPJ Virginia Pro Chapter, Richmond Times Dispatch, Media General, May 2005

Created Online Training Modules

  • Co-authored in 2006-2007 with Prof. Larry Gillick online for 5,500 employees of Gannett Co. on breaking news online, interactivity and datbase journalism
  • Co-authored, in 2007 with Prof. Wendell Cochran at the Knight Citizen News Network.

Served as Judge

  • Judge, White House Correspondents' Association Spring 2011, 2014, , 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
  • National Press Foundation AARP Award for Excellence in Journalism on Aging, 2024
  • Chair, , 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
  • Application Evaluator, Fulbright Program in Russia, 2013
  • Judged
  • Judge for New Â鶹´«Ã½ Media Washington, D.C., chapter, February 2011
  • Judge for
  • Judge for 2010 Knight News Challenge
  • Judge for Knight-Batten Awards in Innovation in Journalism, July 2009
  • Robert F. Kennedy Annual RFK Journalism Awards, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Best of Gannett, 2005
  • CHINFO judging for U.S. Navy, 2005

AU Experts

Area of Expertise

Journalism; newspapers; digital media; new media landscape, writing, media entrepreneurship, future of journalism

Additional Information

Amy Eisman   is one of the founding editors of   USA Today, former executive editor of USA Weekend  magazine, and  former managing editor of content at AOL.  A veteran trainer and educator, she was cochair of the online news association 2010 conference in Washington, D.C. She created an online course in the School of Communication called Media@ the Millennium, which explores the influences of technology, business, audience, and bias on journalism.  She trains journalists in Web writing and content, holding sessions for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague and Moscow, for Voice of America, washingtonpost.com, World Resources Institute, wtopnews.com, and for the Diversity Institute of the Freedom Forum in Nashville, Tenn.  A frequent panelist, she is the coauthor of multimedia online training modules for Gannett and for citizen journalists. She was a Fulbright lecturer at Moscow State University in summer 2004 and returned to Russia in 2011 as a guest speaker invited by the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok. She often is called upon as a judge, including for Knight-Batten awards, White House Correspondents Association awards, and the Knight News Challenge.

For the Media

To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

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