Dr. Hansen Shapiro’s work focuses on the future of journalism in public media and public policies to support local news. She is a steering committee member of the working group on the sustainability of journalism at the Forum on Information and Democracy and is a co-founder of the National Trust for Local News. She is currently leading a study of the impact and sustainability outcomes of Solutions Journalism Local Collaboratives.
Her most recent paper with Ethan Zuckerman examines the current state of social media platform data access for researchers, journalists, and activists. Her most recent research project, The Public Media Mergers Project, was an 18-month study of eight acquisitions of digital newsrooms into public broadcasters around the country
Dr. Hansen has published research on business models to support local news, combining audience revenue and engagement strategies, the relationship between news publishers and social platforms, and the opportunities and challenges of funding single-subject news.
Previously, Dr. Hansen Shapiro led the news sustainability research at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and was the Research Director for the Membership Puzzle Project’s Membership Guide. She received her PhD in Organizational Behavior from Harvard Business School.