Emmy Award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Kristofer Ríos, ’12 M.S., has joined Columbia Journalism School as the James Madison Visiting Professor on First Amendment Issues.
Ríos has spent his career reporting on immigration, international LGBTQ+ rights and climate change, with a focus on inequity and the experiences of underrepresented communities. His work has taken him from local newsrooms to network television and long-form documentary filmmaking.
This fall, he will teach Reporting and Video 1, helping students report high-stakes subjects with care and use video to give their work greater reach. He joins CJS after three years teaching at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, pairing classroom experience with an active career in journalism.
“It's a privilege to return to the institution where I started my career and to join the world-class faculty guiding the next generation of reporters to excellence in journalism,” said Ríos. “It's never been more urgent to have a thriving and healthy free press, and it's never been more challenging to do this work.”
After graduating from Columbia Journalism School in 2012, Ríos began his reporting career at The Miami Herald. He later worked as a producer for Univision/Fusion, leading investigative and documentary projects on immigration, international LGBTQ+ rights and climate change. At ABC News Nightline, he produced coverage of immigration at the U.S.–Mexico border and the national conversation on reparations.
“I’m excited to help prepare students to meet those challenges with creativity, rigor and intention; and to help them find the opportunities where solid reporting can thrive.”
Ríos co-executive produced and directed “Menudo: Forever Young,” a four-part HBO Max documentary series that premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. His credits also include National Geographic’s “Science Fair: The Series.” Most recently, he produced a Netflix feature documentary about Colombian singer Karol G titled “Karol G: Tomorrow was Beautiful.”
His work has received a News and Documentary Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow Award and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ George Ramos “Chale” Award for Investigative Journalism. As a 2023 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, Ríos studied power equity in news coverage of vulnerable and underrepresented communities.
This appointment advances the goals of the CJS2030: Democracy Initiative, which strengthens journalism’s role in sustaining democracy by preparing reporters to uphold press freedom and hold powerful institutions accountable.
Learn more: https://journalism.columbia.edu/CJS2030/Democracy
