User:David Shapinsky

Background

Over the course of my career in media, I have worked in senior managerial capacities, supervising employees of all levels, including producers, technicians, students and interns; built operations from the ground up, negotiating contracts, creating partnerships, and assisting with promotions; produced and written for radio, television and the Internet; helped design cutting edge conference and broadcast facilities; managed the world of digital communications, from web design and podcasting to online animation and blogging.

Recently, I have been providing multimedia management consulting and evaluation services to various non-profits, including: Capitol News Connection with PRI, the NIH-funded National Human Genome Research Institute at Howard University, and the Salzburg Seminar. I also taught "Broadcast Journalism" in the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University.

Between 2002 and 2005, I served as senior producer for Howard University Television, WHUT, the only black-owned and operated public television station in the country. In this capacity, I managed production for several different programs, including Evening Exchange with Kojo Nnamdi, @Howard, On Africa, The D.C. Politics Hour with WAMU and On Health with George Strait. From 2000 through the end of 2003, I served as executive producer for the webcasting service of kaisernetwork.org, overseeing the creation and development of this free webcasting service, including coverage of congressional hearings and conferences. Most notably, I managed the production team and produced kaisernetwork’s coverage of the 2002 International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. kaisernetwork’s coverage of that conference was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as being among the best provided by any organization. It also laid the foundation for kaisernetwork to become the official webcaster for the 2004 AIDS conference in Bangkok.

Before joining the Kaiser Family Foundation, I spent nearly eight years at ABC News, producing for news magazine shows, including PrimeTime Live and 20/20 as well as Nightline and World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. I also wrote a weekly article for ABCNews.com that examined various issues, from the death penalty, juvenile justice, and mental illness to the peace in the Middle East, relations between U.S. and China, and the controversy surrounding the World Trade Organization.

I received an MA and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago where I studied international, social, cultural, intellectual, African-American and southern history. Following graduation, I taught history at the College of Wooster in Ohio. I earned my Bachelors Degree at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.