Our Team
Bruce Shapiro
Executive Director, Dart Center and JTSN
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 is Adjunct Professor and Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs at Columbia, where he teaches journalism ethics. His books include Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America and Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America’s Future. Shapiro is recipient of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Public Advocacy Award for “outstanding and fundamental contributions to the social understanding of trauma.” He is a founding board member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.
Emily Sachs, PhD
Program Director, JTSN
Emily Sachs is a clinical psychologist and a consultant to the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. 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, Dart Center
Consulting Psychologist, JTSN
Elana Newman, McFarlin Professor of Psychology at the University of Tulsa, is the Research Director for the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. A past president of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, she co-directed the Dart 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 Dart 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 clinical psychologist at the Bellevue Hospital Program for Survivors of Torture in New York City. Dr. Porterfield has provided clinical care to adults, adolescents and children who have experienced war and refugee trauma and torture for over 20 years. She regularly consults on issues pertaining to trauma, including in cases at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, US courts, and the International Criminal Court and with journalists and human rights organizations. Dr. Porterfield is a founding staff member of the Journalist Trauma Support Network, an initiative at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University. Dr. Porterfield regularly teaches and works with groups around issues of wellbeing, stress management and team communication. She trained with and continues to teach at the legendary Second City improvisational theater.
Kate Black
Associate Director, Dart Center and JTSN
Kate Black is the associate director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a global project that encourages innovative and ethical news coverage on violence, conflict and tragedy worldwide. She oversees the Dart Center’s programs and activities worldwide, including the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma, Ochberg Fellowships, Dart Academic Fellowships, as well as specialized workshops and trainings, public events and partnerships. For seven years prior to joining the Dart Center, Kate was 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 grant making programs.
Ariel Ritchin
Senior Producer, Content and Programs, Dart Center
Educational Video and Content Producer, JTSN
Ariel Ritchin is the Senior Producer for the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, a project of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism 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 a multimedia journalist 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 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.