Back in July, the BBC announced that it would be collaborating with the Knight-Mozilla OpenNews fellowship program for a second consecutive year, opening its doors to applications from individuals who are deeply passionate about the intersection of technology and journalism. The initiative sought out forward-thinking technologists and reporters eager to make a tangible, lasting impact within public service broadcasting.
Providing an update on the search, Andrew Leimdorfer, senior product manager at the BBC, shared details regarding the successful conclusion of the recruitment process and the appointment of the organization’s next fellow.
The BBC is pleased to announce that it has selected Noah Veltman as its new Knight-Mozilla fellow, with Veltman officially set to begin his tenure with the corporation in January 2013.
Veltman joins an elite group of technology and journalism professionals, being named one of eight international fellows chosen for the 2013 cohort. The full roster of fellows is scheduled to be officially unveiled this weekend at the sold-out Mozilla Festival taking place in London. The prestigious fellowship program embeds talented technologists within major news organizations around the globe, with other fellows taking up posts at prominent publications such as The Guardian and The New York Times, fostering a global network of open-source innovation within the news industry.
Technology continues to reshape and redefine the landscape of modern journalism at a rapid pace, introducing both unprecedented opportunities and complex challenges for traditional newsrooms. Because digital innovation touches nearly every aspect of the reporting and publishing process, the BBC’s immediate challenge upon Veltman’s arrival will be determining precisely which focus areas will benefit most from his expertise during the upcoming year.
Among the primary areas under consideration, developing advanced data visualizations to make complex stories more accessible to audiences, as well as engineering innovative content solutions for the mobile web, rank very high on the organization’s priority list. As news consumption increasingly shifts toward mobile devices and data-driven storytelling becomes a cornerstone of investigative reporting, the contribution of specialized technologists is viewed as vital to the future of digital news delivery.
The BBC warmly welcomes Noah Veltman to the team as he prepares to embark on this collaborative journey in January 2013, and extends its best wishes to all the Knight-Mozilla fellows as they begin their important work across the global media landscape in the year ahead.