The Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security aims to lead the conversation on ethical reporting practices at a critical time for democracy
It also explores issues of cyber-security for news organizations, and shines a light on the physical safety of journalists in an increasingly dangerous environment. The Center, which began in 2022, is made possible by a $10 million endowment gift from Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
Building on the School's tradition, the endowed Center strengthens the rigorous curriculum required for all Master of Science students. It equips these burgeoning journalists with tools to address ethical and security dilemmas that are faced in modern newsrooms.
More and more media companies are signing content-sharing deals with artificial intelligence companies, raising ethics questions around copyright, ownership, and the monetization of media. Meanwhile, a growing number of newsrooms are incorporating generative AI tech and large language models into their workflows. Read below for analyses of how newsrooms should approach artificial intelligence and content-sharing deals.
"If we've learned anything in this business in the last ten years, it's that we have to be aggressive about owning our own technology and about what's changing." - Kimberly Lau, vice president of consumer media and president of Scientific American, during "AI and the Newsroom: Navigating What's Next"
Related reading from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism and CJR:
Journalist safety is paramount. Taking precautions for their physical safety when they are reporting and protecting their digital security is a priority for the Newmark Center. Students receive resources, attend security lectures and participate in workshops – all directly from top experts.
"Similar to planning in the context of physical safety where you're planning on going on a trip, planning on going to a protest or planning to take on a high-risk assignment, that type of planning also comes in when it comes to digital security." - Runa Sandvik, former Senior Director of Information Security for The New York Times and founder of digital security start up Granitt, during "Leaks, Hacks and Lessons Learned" at the J-School.
Related reading:
There is less public trust in the news media than ever before. The Newmark Center looks to address this challenge and provide solutions for journalists. We also want to encourage conversation around how objectivity is interpreted and employed in newsrooms.
"We should not seek to be trusted but rather to be trustworthy, meaning we have to wake up every single day and earn trust over and over again. Having a public editor is one way we can evaluate how well we are doing in that role." - Katherine Maher, NPR
Related reading:
- Confronting falsehoods carries risks for the press. So does ignoring them.
- The Washington Post opinion editor approved a Harris endorsement. A week later, Jeff Bezos killed it.
- After eight years of propaganda, can Polish journalists regain public trust?
- For Nonprofit Newsrooms, Ethical Funding Is Essential – Columbia Journalism Review
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Thirteen Journalists on How They Are Rethinking Ethics – Columbia Journalism Review
With democracy being threatened all around the world, pro-democracy journalism is more important than ever before.
Event highlights:
"There are a lot of states that have passed or AI-generated misinformation. But if you look at the history of laws like that, they are most often weaponized against dissidents and journalists. Laws against the veracity of information tend to have an adverse effect." - Julie Angwin, Proof News
New resources will enable advanced instruction in digital and physical security, algorithmic bias, image manipulation and source protection in an era of high surveillance. Through convenings and published research, the Center will also educate working journalists in digitally safe practices, and help them to better navigate today’s media environment.
Newmark hopes his gifts help the Center to develop "the industry’s go-to resources for the challenges journalists face in a data-driven world.”
“It’s critical that we continue to modernize ethical standards in newsrooms and strengthen journalism ethics education so that the industry keeps pace with the ever-changing digital landscape. This mission is at the heart of creating trustworthy journalism at a pivotal time in our nation’s history."
Director of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security, Anika Collier Navaroli
A 2013 graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Navaroli served as a Senior Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, where her research focused on online speech, social media governance, artificial intelligence and public safety. She previously held senior roles at Twitter and Twitch, testified before Congress as a whistleblower on platform accountability and received the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize and Columbia Journalism School’s Alumni Courage Award.
“Given the challenges that confront us on matters of ethics and security, there could not be a better time to have Anika at the helm of this crucial institution at Columbia Journalism School,” said Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism.
Senior Research Fellow at the Newmark Center for Ethics and Security
Stephan Somogyi is the Senior Research Fellow at the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Security. He has spent 20+ years in the intersections of technology, safety, security, privacy, research, and design. During this time he developed and taught a variety of courses across the globe to journalists and other at-risk groups on how to manage their digital and physical risks.
He formerly worked at Google for many years in Counter-Abuse Technology, Android, Google Research/AI, Chrome, Technical Infrastructure, and other areas focused on protecting people and their information. Prior to Google, Stephan worked at VMWare, Infineon, PGP Corp, Method, and MetaDesign. He was previously also a business, technology, and design journalist, writing for the Economist, the Financial Times, Wired, and I.D. Magazine, among others.
About Craig Newmark
Craig Alexander Newmark is an American internet pioneer and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website craigslist. Prior to founding craigslist in 1996, he worked as a computer programmer for IBM, Bank of America and Charles Schwab. Newmark served as chief executive officer of craigslist from its founding until 2000. He founded in 2015 Craig Newmark Philanthropies, which has since pledged more than $500 million to programs focused on trustworthy journalism, support for military veterans and families, and cybersecurity.
Between 2016 and 2020, Newmark donated $170 million to support journalism, combating harassment of journalists and improving cybersecurity and election integrity, including $1 million each to ProPublica and the Poynter Institute in 2017. Newmark established a $20 million endowment at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which was subsequently renamed the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and in 2024 added a $10 million gift with the aim of making the school tuition-free for all of its students.