Columbia Journalism School taps Indian-American editor and media executive Raju Narisetti

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The prestigious Columbia Journalism School announced June 4, that Raju Narisetti, a leading digital media executive and editor, will join the faculty as Professor of Professional Practice and also serve as the new director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism.

As a full-time faculty member, Narisetti will focus on topics such as business journalism, media entrepreneurship, and the business of journalism, in addition to overseeing one of the most sought-after business journalism fellowships in the country, a press release from the university said.

As the Knight-Bagehot Director, Narisetti succeeds Terri Thompson, who directed the fellowship program for the last 25 years and announced her retirement earlier this year.

“We’re thrilled to welcome such a visionary and experienced editor and media leader as Raju to lead the Knight-Bagehot program,” Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism, is quoted saying in the press release.

“The program has been one of the school’s crown jewels these last two decades and Raju has a strong, exciting vision for how Knight-Bagehot might grow and strengthen in the years ahead. We’re also excited to have Raju join the Columbia faculty where we know he will contribute to the school in many ways,” Coll added.

The Knight-Bagehot fellowship is a rigorous annual program designed to reinforce and strengthen the ability of journalists to do more sophisticated business journalism. Business is increasingly being reshaped by technology, data, privacy, cybersecurity, philanthropy, immigration, environment, algorithmic trading, the emergence of Blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and the rollback of post-crisis regulations, all of which will require current and future business journalists to be continuously better at their jobs in how they serve their audiences, globally, the press release noted.

“I am delighted to join the journalism faculty and also lead the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship program at Columbia University,” said Narisetti, who will formally start in the fall. “Both business journalism and the business of journalism are facing unprecedented uncertainty and tumult. The Columbia Journalism School, which is also home to the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and The Tow Center for Digital Journalism, coupled with the world-renowned Columbia Business School, offers a unique opportunity to explore and innovatively address these challenges,” Narisetti said in the press release.

Narisetti most recently served as chief executive of Gizmodo Media Group, which brings out digital journalism sites such as Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker and The Root. As the chief executive, he oversaw a significant expansion in the audience and journalistic ambitions of the group, to a monthly readership of about 116 million, the press release said.