Joshua Hatch

About

My career in journalism has been closely tied to the rise of digital platforms. In the early 1990s, when I was a general assignment reporter, I caught a glimpse of the digital future and immediately immersed myself in the web, working to put our community newspaper online. As Internet Editor at Space News, I began to think more about how to tell stories that were “of” the platform, rather than simply “on” it. We developed 3D models, animations, and interactive photo galleries to help our readers better understand developments that were happening in space science, research and the space industry. In 1997 I joined Knight Ridder/Tribune's News In Motion animation department as an executive producer and led a team of artists and producers in telling stories through short animated news graphics. We mastered the art of distilling complex stories into easy-to-understand motion graphics. As a multimedia producer at USA TODAY, I collaborated with the newsroom to use video, text, graphics, photos, audio, and data to tell engaging stories. I also helped to develop and drive the site’s strategic initiatives, from a site-wide redesign to the incorporation of social networking. After being promoted to Interactives Director, I led a multidisciplinary team that created newsroom tools and public-facing interactive projects. From late 2010 to late 2012, I worked at the Sunlight Foundation, leading the Sunlight Live platform, which makes it easy for journalists to cover live events through video, live blogging and contextual data cards. Beginning in late 2012, I joined the Chronicle of Higher Education as the Senior Editor for Data and Interactives. During the 2017-18 academic year, I attended MIT as a Knight Science Journalism fellow. Outside of the newsroom, I've led training sessions around the world, teach as an adjunct professor at American University, and sit on the Online News Association's board of directors where I've served as treasurer, vice president and president.