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Web Journalist Blog » About
10 Dec

About


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Robert HernandezProfessor of Professional Practice
Robert Hernandez
email: r.hernandez [at] usc.edu
twitter: @webjournalist
213.280.5187 c | 323.761.9054 gv
Text “webjournalist” to the number 50500 for contact info

 
 

Short bio:

Robert Hernandez, aka WebJournalist, has made a name for himself as a journalist of the Web, not just on the Web. His primary focus is exploring and developing the intersection of technology and journalism – to empower people, inform reporting and storytelling, engage community, improve distribution and, whenever possible, enhance revenue. He is a Professor of Professional Practice at USC Annenberg, but he’s not an academic… he’s more of a “hackademic” that specializes in “MacGyvering” digital journalism through emerging technologies. His most recent work includes Augmented Reality, Wearables/Google Glass and Virtual Reality — he and his students produce VR experiences under their brand: JOVRNALISM™. Their work has won awards from The Webby Awards, The Shorty Awards, the Online News Association, Society of Professional Journalists, among others, and can be seen in Al Jazeera, The New York Times, NBC, NPR, ProPublica, USA Today and in their own iOS/Android app. He has worked for seattletimes.com, SFGate.com, eXaminer.com, La Prensa Gráfica, among others. Hernandez is also the co-founder of #wjchat and co-creator of the Diversify Journalism Project. He has served on boards that have included Chicas Poderosas, InquireFirst, the Online News Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (where he is a lifetime member). He is also a Journalism 360 ambassador and program lead. He is the recipient of SPJ’s 2015 Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award and the 2018 NAHJ Si Se Puede Award. He has made it to imgur’s front page more than once. He connects dots and people.

 

Resume: Web format | PDF format

Complete bio (Updated: August 12, 2020):
Robert Hernandez, one of the few true veterans of Web journalism, has made a name for himself as a journalist of the Web, not just on the Web. His primary focus is exploring and developing the intersection of technology and journalism – to empower people, inform reporting and storytelling, engage community, improve distribution and, whenever possible, enhance revenue.

Hernandez is an Professor of Professional Practice, aka a Web journalism professor, at USC Annenberg. He’s not an academic… he’s more of a hackademic. He describes himself as a mad scientist for journalism, and likes to “MacGyver” Web journalism solutions.

He believes in “open source,” sharing knowledge and experiences among journalists. To that end, he has taken the leading role in uniting and building a community of digital journalists and technologists in a variety of ways. From serving on national boards (which have included Chicas Poderosas, InquireFirst, the Online News Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, among others) to organizing digital communities around VR Journalism or media diversity issues.

Many journalists know him as the co-founder of #wjchat, a weekly forum on Twitter that that ran for more than seven years and engaged participants from around the world. Or the curator of his Tech & Tool page, a collection of tools aimed at inspiring innovation in Web journalism.

His most recent work includes Augmented Reality, Wearables/Google Glass and Virtual Reality — he and his students produce immersive experiences under their brand: JOVRNALISM™. Their work can be seen in Al Jazeera, The New York Times, NBC, NPR, ProPublica, USA Today and in their own iOS/Android app.

JOVRNALISM has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, Society for News Design and Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, as well as won two Webby Awards and a Shorty Award. It has also been awarded grants from the Knight Foundation and others.

He is the recipient of SPJ’s 2015 Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award. In 2018 NAHJ award him the the Si Se Puede Award for his years of work, including leading curriculum at the annual conference. He has been an international keynote speaker, panelists (SXSW three times), moderator and gave a TEDxKC talk on the future of news and misinformation.

Prior to joining Annenberg, Hernandez was director of development for The Seattle Times, where he worked from 2002 until 2009. He helped shape and execute the vision for the Web site and company, leading a team of engineers and designers in creating innovative tools and applications for readers as well as staff. He also worked as a Web designer and consultant for El Salvador’s largest daily newspaper site, La Prensa Gráfica, Web producer for The San Francisco Chronicle and online editor of The San Francisco Examiner.

Hernandez has made it to imgur’s front page more than once. He connects dots and people.

Find out more about Hernandez at www.webjournalist.org or follow him on Twitter at @webjournalist.

Photos: Download images of Robert Hernandez

  1. Kristen Sorensen
    November 18th, 2013 at 13:58 | #1

    Robert –

    I am a grad student at American University in D.C. and am writing a piece on using Instagram photos in news stories. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Do you have time for a quick chat in the next day or two?

    Thanks!
    Kristen

    • Robert
      November 18th, 2013 at 14:26 | #2

      Sure. Email me… the address is listed above.

  2. Lea Naqishbendi
    April 1st, 2014 at 20:10 | #3

    Hi Robert-

    I am attending to JACC convention this week and am excited to hear your address! Love your focus- am will be starting a blog soon with similar focus. I look forward to gaining some perspective from your keynote and the workshops :)

  3. Robert
    April 1st, 2014 at 20:19 | #4

    @Lea Naqishbendi
    Hi Lea, I am truly honored and excited to speak at JACC. It was my first journalism conference I ever attended. It’s a talk nearly 20 years in the making!

  4. September 1st, 2014 at 11:23 | #5

    Hi Robert,

    I’ve just sent you an email about a crazy little idea I am working on. It’s about building a bridge between the people of this world and the newsrooms of broadcasters. I really hope you are willing to read through the story and hope you get excited about it. If you could give me any form of feedback I would really appreciate it.

    Thanks in advance!

  5. Victoria
    June 20th, 2015 at 15:15 | #6

    I was looking through your tech and tools list to see if you had anything that was behavioral based. I was interested in what you had, but nothing there quite met my needs. The closest thing I’ve found are some apps from factorlab. Looks really cool, but it also seems like they aren’t quite done with setting everything up yet. Seems like a cool thing to keep your eye out for, and the Grow by Factorlab app is pretty sweet.

    • Robert
      July 13th, 2015 at 21:33 | #7

      What are you looking for, exactly?

      Thanks, I’ll check it out Factorlab…

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