Allissa Richardson

Allissa V. Richardson is an American journalist and college professor. She is best known as a proponent of mobile journalism and citizen journalism. Richardson has trained students in the United States and Africa to report news using only smartphones, tablets and MP3 players. She is assistant professor of journalism in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Additionally, Richardson is a Nieman Foundation Visiting Journalism Fellow at Harvard University, the 2012 Educator of the Year for the National Association of Black Journalists,^[1] and a two-time Apple Distinguished Educator.^[2]

Biography

Early life and education

Richardson holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Journalism Studies from the University of Maryland College Park. Her dissertation is titled, "Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism." Richardson explored the lives of 15 mobile journalist-activists who documented the Black Lives Matter movement using only their smartphones and Twitter.

Richardson earned a Master of Science in journalism with a concentration in Magazine Publishing, Writing and Editing from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana.^{[citation needed]}

Journalism career

Richardson began her journalism career in 2002 as a general assignment intern for the

At 25, Richardson joined the faculty of Morgan State University. She served as coordinator of its journalism program, and launched and directed the Morgan MOJO Lab in 2010.^[5] Students enrolled in her MOJO Lab classes learned to report news using only iPod Touch devices.^[6] Morgan State University became the first and only historically black college in the country to offer mobile journalism courses.^[7] Richardson accepted a professorship at Bowie State University in Fall 2012. She relocated the MOJO Lab to its campus. She was a mobile media professor in the Emerging Media and Technology division until 2017.^[8] After earning her doctorate, Richardson joined the journalism faculty at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She holds a dual appointment in both the journalism and communication departments within the Annenberg School. She studies black feminist media, communication and social justice, mobile journalism, networked journalism, race and the media, and visual communication theory.

Medical career

Richardson worked as a laboratory researcher for the U.S.

Richardson has given lectures on mobile journalism throughout Africa, Europe^[12] and the United States.^[13][14] She has appeared at Harvard University,^[15] South by Southwest, Online EDUCA Berlin, the MacArthur Foundation-supported Digital Media and Learning Conference, and many colleges, universities, libraries and United States embassies. Richardson has appeared on NPR to discuss innovation in journalism and education.^[16] Her company, MOJO MediaWorks, has been featured in Black Enterprise.

Awards and recognition

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• 2002
  Gannett Company
• 2002 Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society – Xavier University of Louisiana
• 2003 Weinstein-Luby Outstanding Young Journalist – Medill School of Journalism
• 2007 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching & Advising – Morgan State University
• 2010 New Voices, Newsroom Innovator – JLab at American University^[17]
• 2012 Journalism Educator of the Year – National Association of Black Journalists
• 2012 Top 100 Women in Digital – Digital Sisterhood Network^[18]
• 2013 Apple Distinguished Educator –
  Apple, Inc.
• 2013 Outstanding Junior Faculty Professor of the Year – Bowie State University
• 2014 Nieman Foundation Visiting Journalism Fellow – Harvard University
• 2016 Dr. Mabel S. Spencer Award for Excellence in Graduate Achievement^[19] – University of Maryland College Park
• 2016 Global Apple Distinguished Educator – Apple, Inc.

Activism

Richardson has called for state-level

Richardson has served as an advisory board member for Global Girl Media.[24] The organization trains girls to shoot and edit news using traditional cameras. Richardson created its first mobile journalism curriculum in 2011, and trained young women in South Africa and Morocco to report news using iPod Touch devices.^[25]

Richardson also has served as an advisory board member for Black Girls Code (BGC). BGC trains girls of color to create websites, mobile applications and robot prototypes. In March 2013, Richardson created its first youth mobile journalism workshop that launched at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The project's novelty earned Richardson and her company national acclaim in Black Enterprise magazine as a technology firm on the rise.^[26]

References