Profile

One of Eisman's classes explored the impact of 9-11 on Millennials. The project, Growing Up in the Shadow of 9-11, drew national coverage.

Amy Eisman

Director of Writing Programs
School of Communication

  • Amy Eisman oversees SOC's basic writing classes and is Director of the 12-year-old weekend MA in Interactive Journalism. Eisman was an editor with Gannett for 17 years, first as a cover story editor at USA TODAY and later as Executive Editor of USA WEEKEND. Eisman was also a managing editor at AOL and a Fulbright lecturer in Moscow. Today she trains newsrooms on Web content and writing. She co-authored, with Larry Gillick, online training modules for Gannett about breaking news online, interactivity and database journalism. With Professor Wendell Cochran, she co-wrote a module about tools for citizen journalists for Knight Citizen News Network. She’s held workshops at the washingtonpost.com, Freedom Forum, the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague and Moscow. She co-chaired the sold-out 2010 Online News Association conference and in 2011 gave a series of presentations in Vladivostok, Russia, about digital journalism.

  • Degrees

    BA University of Pennsylvania; MA American University

  • OFFICE

  • SOC - School of Communication
  • Mary Graydon - Rm 331 D
  • Tuesday 1-3, Wednesday 2-5

  • CONTACT INFO

  • (202) 885-2106 (Office)
  • Send email Profile UserID

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Professional Presentations

  • Presenter, Teach-A-Thon, "What's Next for Text," 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, Vladivostok, Russia, May 2011. Also visited various journalism programs and classes to talk about new media. Photos here.
  • Panelist, How Internet Aggregators are Affecting Journalism, AU Washington College of Law, March 2011
  • Participant in J-Lab's Reimagining Journalism, 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 Web writing, 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 American 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

Media Appearances

Professional Services

Conducted Web-writing workshops

Created Online Training Modules

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

Served as Judge

AU Expert

Area of Expertise: New media landscape; convergent and social media in terms of journalism; writing and editing for online publications; journalism; newspapers; digital media; writing for audience; online learning (distance education)

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.
 

Media Relations
To request an interview please call AU Media Relations at 202-885-5950 or submit an interview request form.

AU News and Achievements

Newly Updated AUPedia

RSS
More AUpedia Entries