Poynter Institute Taps CNN Editor Katie Hawkins-Gaar as New Digital Innovation Faculty Member

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Dec 08, 2014, 11:02 ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Dec. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Katie Hawkins-Gaar of CNN, a leading expert in user-generated content and producer of some of the network's most prominent digital projects, has been named the new Digital Innovation Faculty member at The Poynter Institute.

Hawkins-Gaar most recently oversaw the editorial team at CNN iReport, the network's worldwide citizen journalism platform. While there, she managed the site and led the production staff that verifies user-created content for CNN. During her time at CNN, she also produced the heralded projects Katrina: Then and Now, Connected by 9/11 and Meet the 99%. Additionally, she was responsible for coordinating iReport's novel on-the-ground presence at South by Southwest in 2011 and 2012.

In her new role at Poynter, Hawkins-Gaar will teach digital storytelling through the latest technology, including the techniques, skills and practices that journalists need to adopt in a constantly changing media environment.

"Katie understands how to use new tools to tell stories that resonate with readers across multiple platforms, and she's passionate about sharing that knowledge with journalists and educators around the world," said Poynter President Tim Franklin. "Katie will add a new dimension to Poynter's teaching as we help journalists navigate the digital transformation."

"Katie sees the future of journalism and she's excited about it," said Kelly McBride, Poynter's Vice President of Academic Programs. "As Poynter's Digital Innovation Faculty, she'll help journalists and newsrooms transform their workflow, their relationships with their audience and perhaps the very definition of news."

Commenting on her new position, Hawkins-Gaar said, "The journalism industry is experiencing tremendous changes right now, and Poynter is positioned to play an integral role in this exciting time of transition. I am thrilled to join the team in St. Petersburg and to help journalists around the world hone their digital, social and mobile skills."

Hawkins-Gaar began her work at CNN in 2007 as an Associate Producer of Interactives for CNN Digital. The next year, she joined the CNN iReport team, then was promoted to iReport Producer in 2010. She became Senior Producer in 2011, and was named editor in February 2014.

She also served as the first female speaker for the Atlanta chapter of Creative Mornings, a worldwide breakfast lecture series for the creative community. In addition, she has presented at the Online News Association, Social Media Week, the Management Seminar for College News Editors and most recently, the Alabama Broadcasters Association Conference on behalf of The Poynter Institute.

"Her experience at iReport is an example of the type of successful experimentation that newsrooms everywhere must do in order to evolve and survive," added McBride. "Katie also brings a unique perspective as a young newsroom leader. Her team and her peers at CNN offer high praise for her abilities. She'll bring those chops to our leadership teaching as well."

Hawkins-Gaar will begin in her new position next month.

About The Poynter Institute 
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is global leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum in 7 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 300,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute's website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

Poynter Contact: Kim Tobin
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727-553-4707
[email protected]

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