Founder of Homicide Watch D.C. to discuss the network’s innovative approach

Journalist and entrepreneur Laura Amico will speak at Yale on Monday, April 7 as a Poynter Fellow in Journalism.

Amico will give a talk titled “Crime Beat 3.0: Digital Reporting as a Community Empowerment Tool” at 5:30 p.m. at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, 77 Prospect St.  

Amico began her career in journalism as an education reporter in California before transitioning into work as a crime reporter. After working as a beat reporter for some time, in 2010 Amico founded “Homicide Watch D.C.,” a community-based news and information network that tracks and aggregates data on violent crime in Washington, D.C.

Homicide Watch D.C. has been widely recognized for its innovative coverage of violent crime, leading news organizations outside of the Washington area to use the platform as well.

For her involvement in founding and editing Homicide Watch D.C., Amico has been recognized with several awards, including a New York Times Chairman’s Award, and fellowships with the Online News Association and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America. From 2012 to 2013, Amico also served as the Nieman-Berkman Fellow in journalism innovation at Harvard, where she was studying digital beat reporting.

The Poynter Fellowship in Journalism was established by Nelson Poynter, who received his master’s degree in 1927 from Yale. The fellowship brings to campus journalists from a wide variety of media outlets who have made significant contributions to their field. Among the recent Poynter fellows are Jill Abramson, Nathaniel Rich, and James Bennet.