Cindy E. Rodríguez is web 2.0 journalist who can shoot high-definition video, edit on Final Cut Pro, create podcasts, as well as write and edit with style. Armed with a degree in digital media from Columbia University, she understands how to effectively use social networking sites, and how analyze viewer metrics. Prior to immersing herself in all things digital, she was an award-winning journalist and former newspaper columnist. During her 20-year career, Cindy covered race relations and cultural affairs forThe Detroit News, was a columnist and blogger at The Denver Post, covered immigration and demographics for The Boston Globe, and was youth editor at The Syracuse Newspapers. Currently, she is teaching journalism at area colleges, doing consulting work, freelancing, and working on a book. She has been published in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Latina Magazine, and many other publications. She’s written on myriad topics, from hip hop to health care, from labor issues to education. Her story assignments have taken to cities across the nation and to many parts of Latin American and the Caribbean. She’s met dozens of dignitaries and celebrities along the way. The most fascinating people for her, however, have always been regular people. Cindy currently teaches journalism at Fordham University, and has taught at New York University, and Hunter College (CUNY), where she also serves on the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism committee. She previously held adjunct faculty positions at Metropolitan State College of Denver, Boston University, Northeastern University and for three years ran the S.I. Newhouse Minority High School Journalism Program in Syracuse, NY. Cindy served as vice president-print of The National Association of Hispanic Journalists from 2006 to 2008 and in 2007-2008 served as a board member of Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc.. She is a member of both the National Association of Black Journalists and Society of Professional Journalists. She was also Co-Editor of The UNITY News student newspaper project during UNITY 2004 and UNITY 2000, the largest conventions of journalists in the world. She has also mentored aspiring journalists working on The ASNE Reporter, the convention newspaper of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. She’s also been editor, for several years, of The Latino Reporter, a convention newspaper of NAHJ that brings together 25 college students from across the country for a one-week journalism bootcamp experience. She has won numerous accolades throughout her career including First Place Award for Best Serious Columnist from the Colorado Press Association, a New York State AP Award for column writing, and an award from the National Association of Black Journalists for work on a team project covering the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Detroit unrest. In 2000, she was a National Press Foundation fellow, which allowed her to live in Cuernavaca, México, to master Spanish. Cindy was born and raised in Harlem. Her mother is Puerto Rican, her dad is Cuban (he fled Cuba in 1958 when Batista was in power). She is a graduate of The City College of New York and earned a Master’s degree in digital media from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, filmmaker Geoffrey O’Connor.
