Staff

Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, Dina Abdel-Haq lived in Jordan, Switzerland, Canada, and Bahrain before starting at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. In 2009, she graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a degree in political science. She spent the past year working at The Source, a Vancouver-based publication. Abdel-Haq’s interests lie in Middle Eastern affairs, with a particular emphasis on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Covers: Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
E-mail: da2515

Jasmine Bager was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.After high school, she returned to the United States, graduating in 2007 with a dual degree in print journalism and studio art from the University of Miami. Bager returned to Saudi Arabia to work in public relations, before enrolling at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She is the Columbia chapter president of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association.
Covers: Midtown, Manhattan
E-mail: jb3501
On Twitter: @JasmineBager

Elizabeth Barber, 22, grew up in Albany, N.Y, where she spent more than a decade as a ballet dancer. But, after many years with the Northeast Ballet Company, Barber decided to retire her toe shoes and pursue a career as a reporter. While a student at SUNY Geneseo, she interned for The Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh, and reported from the revolution in Egypt for the Albany Times Union. She hopes to continue covering the Middle East as a narrative journalist.
Covers: University Heights, The Bronx
E-mail: elizabethcbarber
On Twitter: @ElizabethKateri

Originally from Millburn, N.J., Daniel Berkowitz is studying magazine writing at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He graduated from Vassar College in 2011, where he majored in religion and pitched for the baseball team. He has worked as a freelance writer for publications including Social Life Magazine and TheSpitTake.com and reviewed books for PsychCentral.com. He hopes to write long-form magazine pieces centered on arts and culture.
Covers: Religion in New York City
E-mail: djb2183
On Twitter: @DanJBerkowitz

Ryan Book once interviewed Insane Clown Posse for a story, an event that he considers the highlight of his journalism career. He is an M.S. student at Columbia Journalism School. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Book is a die-hard Reds fan. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in journalism in 2011. Book co-hosted an arts podcast and spent a year as the newspaper’s arts editor.
Covers: Concourse, The Bronx
E-mail: rmb2199
On Twitter: @RyanMBook

Brittney Brown, 23, grew up in Chicago and majored in mass communications at Grambling State University. After graduating, she was as an executive team leader at Target. A student at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Brown wants to report on social issues, especially concerning minority populations. In her spare time, Brown likes to experiment with soul food and Mexican recipes. Her current cooking project is to make a peach cobbler.
Covers: East Orange, New Jersey
E-mail: bmb2163

Amanda Cedrone comes to the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism by way of Northeastern University. A 2012 graduate, Cedrone majored in journalism and political science and was an editor and reporter for her college paper, The Huntington News. While at Northeastern, she worked for The Boston Globe, where she wrote more than 400 articles on crime and breaking news. She hopes to work in the metro section of a major metropolitan newspaper.
Covers: East Village, Manhattan
E-mail: anc2137
On Twitter: @ancedrone

Caroline Chen is a 22-year-old native of Hong Kong. She attended Stanford University, where she received a degree in English and a minor in Mathematics. She has interned at Time Out Hong Kong and SF Weekly. Currently, Chen is a journalism student at Columbia University studying investigative journalism. When she’s not hitting the streets of her beat, she likes cooking Chinese and Italian food and writing letters to friends by hand.
Covers: Washington Heights, Manhattan
E-mail: cyc2130
On Twitter: @CarolineYLChen

Dana Forde is a student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism studying newspaper writing. She has worked for several publications in both English and Spanish, focusing on topics ranging from education to religion. Forde has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from American University and a master’s degree from Rutgers University. She was also a governor’s executive fellow at the Rutgers-affiliated Eagleton Institute of Politics.
Covers: Religion in New York City
E-mail: df3615

Viola Gad hails from Stockholm, Sweden. She lived in China for more than three years, studying Chinese and working an assortment of jobs. Aiming to become a traveling correspondent covering migration and international politics, Gad is now studying at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She covers Sunnyside, Queens, drawn by the neighborhood’s shifting economic and demographic profile and its burgeoning arts community.
Covers: Sunnyside, Queens
E-mail: vsg2108
On Twitter: @ViolaGad

Jessica Gould is a graduate student at Columbia Journalism School. A native of northern New Jersey, Gould graduated from Harvard in 2004 as an African-American studies major. She comes to Columbia from Washington D.C., where she worked for the Northwest Current, the Washington City Paper, and NPR’s WAMU. Though she is studying print journalism at the school, Gould plans to return to public radio after graduation.
Covers: Senior Citizens in New York City
E-mail: jeg2192
On Twitter: @ByJessicaGould

Ana Komnenic graduated from the University of British Columbia, earning a degree in international relations in 2011. Born in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, she moved with her family to Vancouver, Canada, in 1995. She has worked for the Center for Investigative Journalism in Sarajevo and wrote for her college paper. She is currently a master’s student at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. After graduating, she would like to report from the Middle East.
Covers: Kingsbridge and Marble Hill, The Bronx
E-mail: komnenicana

Born in Hong Kong to Scottish parents, Stephanie Linning comes to Columbia School of Journalism a recent drama graduate of the University of Bristol, UK. While there, she wrote for her university newspaper, edited for thenationalstudent.com and co-founded an online arts journal. Linning hopes to work as a newspaper reporter in the UK until she finally talks her way onto British television screens – ideally as a co-host of a morning news show.
Covers: Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
E-mail: sjlinning
On Twitter: @StephLinning

New Jersey-born Tony Maglio currently writes for a variety of publications, including LateNet, Time Warner’s RoadRunner, Criticalmob.com, and his own Papercomic.com. Maglio is celebrating his fourth year as a freelance comedy writer for Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. He hopes his enrollment in the J-school will help him refine his career goals. Maglio earned bachelor and master degrees in business from Monmouth University.
Covers: Freehold, New Jersey
E-mail: tonymaglio
On Twitter: @AnthonyMaglio

Devin Miller is a 21-year-old masters candidate and journalist. He majored in political science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in three years and is now at Columbia University Journalism School. He has some work experience under his belt, including internships with Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Conservation International. Miller wants to cover politics, conservation, and current affairs. He’s also a fantasy and sci-fi fan and dreams of being published in this genre.
Covers: Morningside Heights, Manhattan
E-mail: djm2197

David Noriega, 26, was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to the U.S. as a teenager. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in comparative literature in 2008. With a background as an investigator at the Civilian Complaint Review Board in New York City, he hopes to take his investigative skills further at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Noriega is interested in covering social justice issues and the Latin American diaspora.
Covers: Corona, Queens
E-mail: noriega.david
On Twitter: @DRNoriega

Sarah Sommer, 23, graduated with a B.A. in English from Barnard College in May 2011. She covered women’s basketball and soccer for the Columbia Spectator. Sommer, herself a shooting guard for a two-time conference champ New Jersey high school, hopes to work in a few sports stories during her time at Columbia Journalism School. She recently worked as an editorial intern for Major League Baseball.

Covers: Upper West Side, Manhattan
E-mail: ss3223
On Twitter: @SarahSomm

Hailing from the quaint tongue-twister Welsh town of Llandrindod Wells, Jack Williams moved to New York City with one suitcase and an admission into the centennial class of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Williams earned a multimedia journalism degree in 2010 from Bournemouth University in the south of England. At Columbia, Williams is specializing in magazine writing and likes to play sports.
Covers: East Village, Manhattan
E-mail: jw2946
On Twitter: @itsJackWilliams

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