Ariel Zirulnick

About Ariel Zirulnick

I\'m a journalist passionate about doing journalism that is responsive to community needs and building systems that make that sustainable. Right now I\'m doing that work as the senior editor for community engagement at Southern California Public Radio (LAist.com and LAist 89.3) in Los Angeles. I\'m also a mentor with the News Product Alliance, an analyst with LION Publishers, and an instructor with CUNY\'s Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program. I previously led the Membership Puzzle Project\'s Membership in News Fund, an effort by New York University and the Media Development Investment Fund to encourage global experimentation with membership as a source of sustainable revenue and impact for independent journalism. As part of that work we published MembershipGuide.org, a tactical, practical guide to membership models. Prior to that I was the director of The New Tropic, a local media startup that helps Miamians connect to, understand, and explore their city through a daily newsletter, storytelling, and events. It\'s the flagship publication of WhereBy.Us, a media and technology platform that helps curious locals make the most of their cities. I was a freelance foreign correspondent based in Nairobi, where I was published in the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Independent, Foreign Policy, the Christian Science Monitor, and Quartz. Prior to that, I was the Middle East Editor at The Christian Science Monitor. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism and international studies.

Experience

1. Director of News Experimentation

   Laist

   Jul 2023 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

   As director of news experimentation, I oversee the creation of new products, workflows, and partnerships to serve Angelenos more deeply and consistently, generate revenue, and solve workflow pain points. The news experimentation team has four key focuses- Targeted research to build understanding of communities in our market and opportunities for deepening LAist’s relationship with them- The design and scaling of systems and workflows that facilitate journalism about, for, and with audiences in a sustainable way- The development of new, effective forms of information delivery and storytelling that help LAist reach its audience and sustainability goals- Cultivation of a spirit of experimentation around information in partnership across the organization and directly with community membersOur goal is to connect LAist’s journalism more closely to the lives, experiences, and habits of Angelenos in order to grow our total addressable audience and to find ways to monetize that work.

Education

• Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY

  Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership

  2022 — 2023

• The Hebrew University

  Middle East Studies

  2009 — 2009

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Bachelor's, Journalism and Mass Communication, International Studies

  2006 — 2010

• Georgetown University

  Institute on Political Journalism

  2008 — 2008