New York, N.Y. – Jan. 10, 2012 – ProPublica has hired social media producer Blair Hickman to join its newsroom on Jan. 23. Hickman is a recent graduate of New York University’s Studio 20 master’s program in Digital Journalism and Web Innovation. She will be assisting social media editor Daniel Victor with ProPublica’s crowdsourcing and social media efforts.
Hickman comes to ProPublica from Dowser Media where she was a senior editor in charge of online editorial strategy, user research and defining and cultivating an awareness of solutions journalism. Prior to that, Hickman was a multimedia assistant for the PBS series “Women, War & Peace” as well as an editorial intern at Mediaite focusing on news and emerging media. She has written for a range of publications, including Jezebel, the New York Daily News and Patch. Hickman was also involved in Studio 20’s collaboration with ProPublica for the “Building a Better Explainer” project, which began in November 2010.
“Blair is inspired in her thinking and dogged in her execution,” Victor said. “She’ll bring a fresh, smart voice to our social media accounts, and her understanding of how to use social strategies throughout the newsroom will be valuable to everyone here.”
“I am beyond excited to join ProPublica,” Hickman said. “Working with them through Studio 20, on things like ‘The Fracking Song’ and the ensuing demand-driven FAQ Guide, really showed me how open to innovation this newsroom is. I’m thrilled to continue to push the envelope as part of ProPublica’s social team.”
ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. In 2010, it was the first online news organization to win a Pulitzer Prize. In 2011, ProPublica won the first Pulitzer awarded to a body of work that did not appear in print. ProPublica is supported primarily by philanthropy and provides the articles it produces, free of charge, both through its own website and to leading news organizations selected with an eye toward maximizing the impact of each article. For more information, please visit www.ProPublica.org.
