Our Team

Bruce Shapiro

Executive Director, Global Center and JTSN

Bruce Shapiro is Executive Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma, encouraging innovative reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy worldwide. An award-winning reporter on human rights, criminal justice and politics, Shapiro is a contributing editor at The Nation and U.S. correspondent for Late Night Live on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National. He has taught investigative journalism at Yale University and journalism ethics at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he directed the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma from 2009-2025. Shapiro's books include Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America and Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America's Future, co-authored with Rev. Jesse Jackson and Jesse Jackson Jr. Shapiro is recipient of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Public Advocacy Award for "outstanding and fundamental contributions to the social understanding of trauma." 

Emily Sachs, PhD

Program Director, JTSN

Emily Sachs is a clinical psychologist and a consultant to the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma, where she directs the Journalist Trauma Support Network. She has provided trauma treatment for adults including refugees, veterans, survivors of sexual abuse and assault, and crisis management professionals, and held staff positions at the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She has coordinated research programs in U.S. immigration detention centers and abroad in India. Dr. Sachs has created clinical curriculums for medical professionals at the VA and doctoral students at the Wright Institute, and regularly provides trauma-informed trainings for newsrooms and other journalism organizations. She has been treating journalists in her private practice since 2015.

Elana Newman, PhD

Research Director, Global Center
Consulting Psychologist, JTSN

Elana Newman, McFarlin Professor of Psychology at the University of Tulsa, is the Research Director for the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. A past president of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, she co-directed the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma’s first satellite office in NYC after 9/11. Dr. Newman’s scholarly work in journalism and trauma focuses on understanding the occupational health of journalists who cover traumatic events, evaluating training needs, analyzing trauma-related news, and examining the effects of journalistic practice on consumers and individuals covered in the news. She directed the development of a bibliographic database to help teachers and scholars access information about trauma and journalism, and trains journalists in trauma science, best psychological practice for interviewing survivors, self-care and best practices within newsrooms. Dr. Newman is a founding staff member of the Journalist Trauma Support Network, an initiative at the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University. She also trains clinicians and researchers on how they can better collaborate with journalists.

Katherine Porterfield, PhD

Consulting Psychologist, Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture
Consulting Psychologist, JTSN

Dr. Katherine Porterfield is a consulting psychologist at the Bellevue Hospital Program for Survivors of Torture and a founding staff member of the Journalist Trauma Support Network, an initiative of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Dr. Porterfield has provided clinical care to adults, children and families who have experienced war and refugee trauma and torture for over 25 years. She has written and edited numerous publications pertaining to the care and evaluation of survivors of trauma. She regularly consults on issues pertaining to trauma and torture, including in cases at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, in US federal and state courts, and the International Criminal Court. Dr. Porterfield has worked extensively with journalists, attorneys, and human rights organizations on recognizing and managing secondary traumatic stress and building well-being practices. Dr. Porterfield was the Chair of the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Psychosocial Effects of War on Children and Families Who Are Refugees from Armed Conflict Residing in the United States. She was trained at the legendary Second City theater and was one of the founding instructors in the Second City Training Centers in Detroit and New York. As a group facilitator, Dr. Porterfield has developed workshops and interactive programs for organizations such as the International Women’s Media Foundation, The New York Times, Washington Post, Physicians for Human Rights, Committee to Protect Journalists, NPR, Major League Baseball, Pfizer, and the Ford Foundation.

Kate Black

Associate Director, Global Center and JTSN

Kate Black is Deputy Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma, an international project that encourages innovative and ethical news coverage on violence, conflict and tragedy. She oversees the  Center’s programs and activities worldwide, including  fellowships, the Early Childhood Journalism Initiative, as well as specialized workshops, trainings, and public events. Prior tothe Global Center she was the longtime program director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and a program officer at the Open Society Foundations where she directed the Soros Justice Fellowships and founded and directed the Katrina Media Fellowships, each $1 million grantmaking programs.

Ariel Ritchin

Senior Producer, Content and Programs, Global Center
Educational Video and Content Producer, JTSN

Ariel Ritchin is the Senior Producer for the Global Center for Journalism & Trauma, encouraging innovative reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy worldwide. He directs and oversees all editorial content and leads strategic and digital initiatives, while managing specialized programs, workshops and trainings for reporters all over the world. Ariel is also a multimedia journalist and documentary filmmaker whose audio and video work has appeared on Life of the Law, NBC News and PBS Newshour, among others. He has previously worked in the multimedia department at the ACLU and as a video editor for Lucky Tiger Productions. He is a Logan Nonfiction Fellow, a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow and a Posse Foundation Scholar. Ariel holds an M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from Middlebury College.