Event

Our annual Careers in Media alumni panel — sponsored by KWH, the Daily Pennsylvanian, and the Nora Magid Mentorship Prize — focuses on how you can prepare for first jobs and careers in print, broadcast and online media, publishing, and related fields, as well as how to make decisions about extracurriculars, internships and grad school in these areas. This year’s panel includes Jessica Sidman (’08), food editor at Washingtonian magazine; Maria Popova (C’07), the founder and brains behind Brainpickings.com; Jessica Goodman (C’12), the digital news editor of Entertainment Weekly; David Borgenicht (C ‘90), bestselling nonfiction author, and owner and publisher of Quirk Books; and moderator Stephen Fried (’79), award-winning journalist and bestselling author who teaches at Penn and Columbia J-School and mentors longform nonfiction writers.

At the this panel you’ll also learn more about the Nora Magid Mentorship Prize for the top senior nonfiction writer/editor, and other opportunities for internships and networking.

THE NORA MAGID MENTORSHIP PRIZE is given each year to a senior at the University of Pennsylvania who shows exceptional ability and promise in writing/reporting/editing, and who would benefit most from combined mentorship of Nora's network of former students and their colleagues in traditional and new media. The prize is $3000 to be used however the student chooses for their professional development—including being used as a stipend for post-grad internships that require one. The winner also receives unparalleled access to a constantly growing network of Penn alumni—including Nora's former students and over a decade of Nora Prize-winners—as well as their extensive web of colleagues who can assist in the student’s career. It is open to all seniors at Penn, although preference is given to those who expect to attempt to make careers in some form of media.

DAVID BORGENICHT (C'90) is the CEO and owner of Philadelphia book publisher Quirk Books, co-author of the best-selling Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. QUIRK publishes 25 books a year, including international best-seller Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

JESSICA GOODMAN (C'12) is a Digital News Editor at Entertainment Weekly, where she runs the music and books sections of EW.com. Previously, she was an Entertainment Editor at The Huffington Post, and has written for the Village Voice, Mashable, NYMag.com and Noisey.

MARIA POPOVA (C'07) is a reader and writer, and writes about what she reads on her Brain Pickings blog, which is included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials. She has also written for Wired UK and The Atlantic, The New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine. In 2012, she was named among the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine.

STEPHEN FRIED (C'79) (moderator) is a best-selling and award-winning journalist who teaches non-fiction writing at Penn and the Journalism School at Columbia University. He is a former contributing editor at Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour and Philadelphia Magazine.