The annual Career Expo at Columbia Journalism School concluded on Saturday, March 23, 2024, with nearly 140 news media companies in attendance online, making it the biggest journalism job fair in the United States.
Columbia welcomed more than 200 editors, producers and hiring managers from news companies across the New York metro region, the U.S., and the globe. Editors from Japan, Hong Kong, Greece, and Canada, plus editors and news directors from Hawaii to Maine gathered online to meet and interview the next generation of journalists for internships and jobs now and in the future.
“We are thrilled that our annual Career Expo has become an event which employers feel compelled to attend because of the high quality of our skilled, talented and diverse students,” said Anusha Shrivastava, associate dean of career development. “The Career Expo is a great opportunity for our students to build lifelong relationships with journalists and hiring managers.”
Notes of praise from editors began to arrive before the day was out:
“I interviewed 15 students today and was awestruck by how smart they were,” said Vernon Loeb, executive editor at InsideClimate News. “I wish I could hire all of them.”
John Barth, a longtime radio veteran and CEO of Creative Media, said: “Columbia Journalism runs the BEST career development experience, and I have helped connect some people today with individuals who might assist them with jobs and fellowships.”
Students were grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many hiring managers in one place. The full-day expo included 18 webinars where employers like The New Yorker, CNN and Freakonomics talked about their newsrooms, and more than 50 roundtables where employers spoke to small groups of students. Throughout the day, employers met students for more than 1,300 one-on-one meetings.
