The Center for Cooperative Media is a grant-funded program based at Montclair State University‘s School of Communication and Media. We work with closely with the faculty, staff and students at the School of Communication and Media, which is part of the College of the Arts. Keith Strudler is the director of the School of Communication and Media and Dan Gurskis is dean of the College of the Arts.
The Center currently employs the following staff members:
Stefanie Murray
Director
Stefanie Murray is the director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. A Michigan native, Stefanie previously worked in Michigan and Tennessee as a reporter, editor, digital media manager, and news executive. Before joining Montclair State, she worked for Gannett Co. as vice president and executive editor of The Tennessean in Nashville and was with the Detroit Free Press before that.
Her professional passions are collaborative journalism, local journalism, community engagement and audience analysis. She has a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and journalism from Central Michigan University.
Stefanie can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StefanieMurray.
Cassandra Etienne
Associate director of programming and membership
Cassandra Etienne is the associate director of programming and membership at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and has worked as a documentary producer and freelance reporter in New Jersey and her native New York City.
She has contributed to local news publications including The New York Beacon, Norwood News, and the Metuchen Mirror, and to television outlets such as PBS and Democracy NOW! Her reporting and documentary projects reflect an interest in cultural reporting and social issues such as civil rights, environmental justice and healthcare and education reforms.
Cassandra can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @CEtienne_CIEL.
Joe Amditis
Associate director of operations
Joe Amditis is the associate director of operations at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and an adjunct professor in the School of Communication and Media. He is the producer and host of the WTF Just Happened Today podcast.
Joe is a veteran of the NJ Army National Guard. He was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and his unit was activated to help with Hurricane Irene relief efforts in 2011. He earned a B.A. in political science and criminal justice from Rutgers in 2013 and an M.A. in engaged journalism from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in 2016. He was co-founder and director of operations of Muckgers, an award-winning, student-focused, investigative news outlet until 2014.
Joe has also coordinated several collaborative reporting projects, including Democracy Day, a nationwide reporting collaborative involving 300+ newsrooms across the United States. He is the author of several guides and educational resources for small and local newsrooms, including guides on generative AI.
Joe can be reached at amditisj@montclair.edu and on Twitter at @jsamditis.
Denise Shannon
Department administrator
Denise Shannon is the administrative coordinator for the Center for Cooperative Media where she provides organizational and administrative oversight of the Center’s programs.
She also manages the event planning details of the annual Collaborative Journalism Summit. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from La Salle University.
Denise can be reached at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.
Oni Advincula
Ethnic and community media coordinator
Anthony “Oni” Advincula is a New York City-based journalist and communications consultant. Formerly the national media director, writer and editor for New America Media, he managed and organized ethnic media projects in 45 states. He was a correspondent for The Jersey Journal and the communications director and managing editor of the Independent Press Association-New York, where he co-edited Voices That Must Be Heard (now known as CUNY’s Voices of NY).
His awards include a New York Times Foreign Press Fellowship and a National Health Journalism Fellowship. Anthony studied advanced narrative nonfiction at Harvard University and received dual master’s degrees in public administration and journalism from Columbia University where he was awarded a Charles H. Revson Fellowship.
Oni can be reached at [email protected].
Hanna Siemaszko
Research coordinator
Hanna Siemaszko is a former research assistant for CCM who previously took part in the Center’s cross-field collaboration research. Hanna has a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also has a master’s degree in Communication and Media Studies from The London School of Economics and Political Science, where her dissertation, an analysis of the discourse surrounding analytics and impact in the trade press, received a mark of distinction and was published in LSE’s dissertation series.
She started her career with Solutions Journalism Network, where she helped rebuild the organization’s impact tracker.
Hanna can be reached via email at [email protected].
Yuli Delgado
Spanish translation coordinator
Yuliana Delgado is the assistant coordinator for the Spanish Translation News Service. Yuli has more than 20 years of experience in the media industry, both in print and digital. She received her BA in English and Anthropology from Barnard College, part of Columbia University, and then began her career at Latina Magazine in New York City. Moving into digital, Yuli was one of the founding editors of the country’s only website dedicated to the bilingual, bicultural mom, MamásLatinas. Since then, she’s thrived in the fast-paced world of digital media.
Yuli has also worked on other independent projects, translating, proofreading, and editing Spanish language content for organizations like Cancer and Careers, Viacom, and the Pan American Health Organization.
Yuli can be reached via email at [email protected].
Reet Starwind
Stories Invincible project coordinator
Reet Starwind is an artist, educator & organizer in the Camden area working with the Center to elevate restorative narratives about Camden’s residents and history.
Reet graduated from Rutgers University-Camden in the specialized field of digital media and society, and his career focuses on the ever-present connection between the two. As Creative Director of the Camden non-profit, Watu Moja, he’s teamed with others to curate showcases of local Black art and organize artistic demonstrations of civil unrest, such as the Camden Arts For Change Justice March. He has served as a featured speaker at events for the City of Camden, University of Pennsylvania, the All Things Are Possible Foundation, and Camden’s Arts and Culture Heritage Society.
Reet can be contacted via email at [email protected] or on Instagram at @mrstarwind.
Adrienne Bauldock
South Jersey Information Equity Project coordinator
Adrienne Bauldock is a media specialist who is networking active creatives all over the New Jersey region. She is a Montclair State alum who studied Television and Digital Media. She spent her time at Montclair State University enhancing the skills and techniques she learned in high school at the Burlington County Institute of Technology.
As a self-taught entrepreneur and creative, she strives to provide the necessary tools for creatives all around New Jersey. As she continues her studies in media, she understands that important resources are lacking, specifically for people who are new to the industry. That’s why she is passionately pursuing her role as the coordinator of the South Jersey Information Equity Project.
Adrienne can be reached at [email protected].
Beatrice Forman
Democracy Day coordinator
Beatrice Forman is a breaking news and digital culture reporter with The Philadelphia Inquirer, but she’s lived past lives as a deputy editor at a local news startup, a newsletter writer, and an intern for a news collaborative.
A recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied communications and international relations and co-developed a fellowship program for 34th Street magazine that allowed students of color and low-income students to get paid for working in student media.
She currently works as breaking news reporter at Billy Penn, where she gets to write about her two passions: the internet and the city she calls home.
Beatrice can be reached on Twitter at @beaformanwrites.
Amanda Alicea
Membership coordinator
Amanda Alicea is a freelancing feature reporter and writer who serves as the data entry and membership coordinator at the Center. As a New Jersey native, Alicea enjoys covering places, people, and events in her community. She is a feature reporter for the university’s student-run newspaper, The Montclarion and has worked closely with the radio station as a newscaster on 90.3 FM WMSC.
Amanda received her B.A. in journalism in 2022 from the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. She currently works as a news producer for KUSA in Colorado.
Amanda can be reached on LinkedIn or via email at [email protected].
Mariela Santos-Muñiz
Collaborative journalism newsletter writer
Mariela Santos-Muñiz is a freelance journalist and writer. She works for the Center updating the collaborative journalism database, and curating the collaborative journalism newsletter. Her reporting is mostly on Latinx issues and has appeared in Nylon, The Daily Dot, Bustle, The Open Notebook, Ensia, and more.
Mariela holds an M.A. in International Relations and International Communications from Boston University, and a B.A. in Humanities from the Universidad del Turabo (now Universidad Ana G. Mendez, Gurabo).
She currently lives in Puerto Rico. Mariela can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter at @mellamomariela.
Catherine Devine
Civic science fellow
Catherine Devine is a 2024-2025 Civic Science Fellow at the Center for Cooperative Media, funded by the Rita Allen Foundation. She was the 2023 Gero Fellow in Science Communication at Schoodic Institute where she spent 10 months living in Acadia National Park reporting on climate change and leading community engagement efforts.
In addition to her work in the civic science space, Catherine has produced podcasts on a wide variety of topics including environmental science, politics, and economics. She received Bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Psychology (cognitive) from New York University, where her thesis project, “Turning Back the Tide,” a documentary on an oyster-driven climate solutions project, was an NYU Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund award recipient.
Catherine can be reached via email at [email protected].
Manya Brachear Pashman
Election project coordinator
Manya Brachear Pashman is a journalist and educator who pioneered the religion and journalism dual master’s program at Columbia University. She has over 15 years of experience reporting and editing stories with local, national, and international significance, and more than a decade of training young and aspiring journalists. Manya is fluent in most audio/video editing applications and all social media platforms.
As a leader, Manya implemented an ambitious nonprofit strategic plan for the Religion News Foundation and led efforts to diversify and professionalize its board. She has negotiated exclusive access and mined data for Page One stories and has discussed religion headlines in dozens of television and radio segments. Currently, Manya writes about antisemitism around the globe, co-hosts a weekly podcast on global affairs through a Jewish lens, and teaches aspiring reporters how to cover religion responsibly.
Manya can be reached on LinkedIn or via email at [email protected].