From April 2010 until summer 2016 Maura Stephens served as associate director of the Park Center for Independent Media after a career that included mainstream and independent journalism and other fields.
Maura believes strongly that indy journalism is critical for any democratic society and that it can and should be a noble profession. She will always cherish the time she spent working with PCIM director Jeff Cohen, whose observations on and assessments of the media she has long admired and whose progressive outlook she shares, and with Brandy Hawley, the world's most accomplished administrative assistant and generous supporter of students, faculty, and staff. She enjoyed helping to nurture a new generation of ethical, inquisitive, well-equipped professionals committed to journalism for the common good. Although she has now left IC, she continues to write for and promote indy media and looks forward to many collaborations with other committed independent investigative journalists.
Her PCIM portfolio included mentoring student journalists toward careers in independent media; tracking highlights and trends in national and local independent media; writing and curating content for PCIM online sites; writing articles and essays for independent media outlets on media and related topics (everything is related to media in some ways!); and helping Jeff Cohen with internships and public events.