Amy Eisman
Director, Media Entrepreneurship & Interactive Journalism
School of Communication
American University

Amy Eisman is director of the media entrepreneurship & interactive journalism MA programs at American University. The unique MAME program, launched in 2011, is aimed at working professionals who take courses on nights and weekends in topics from managing media technology to media law. Amy’s background spans traditional media as well as new media. She was a founding editor of USA TODAY in 1982 and eventually executive editor of Gannett’s USA WEEKEND magazine. She held several managing editor roles at AOL before moving to the university in 2002.

Amy is an early adapter of online teaching; she is a newsroom trainer in Web content and writing; she was a Fulbright lecturer in Moscow and is active in digital journalism organizations. Most recently, she forged a partnership between three AU schools and 1776, the downtown incubator and networking facility for startups that opened in early 2012. She is very hopeful about journalism’s future and all the exciting ways to tell a story.