Nov 2020
Forum on Information and Democracy
Anya Schiffrin
Senior Lecturer in Discipline of International and Public Affairs
Personal Details
Focus areas: Media, development, innovation, media in Africa and the extractive sector
Anya Schiffrin is a senior lecturer in the discipline of international and public affairs and faculty co-director of the Technology Policy and Innovation (TPI) concentration at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She previously directed the Technology, Media, and Communications (TMaC) specialization and teaches courses on global media, innovation, and human rights. Dr. Schiffrin writes on journalism and development, investigative reporting in the global south and has published extensively over the last decade on the media in Africa. More recently she has become focused on solutions to the problem of online disinformation, earning her PhD (with honors) on the topic from the University of Navarra. She is the editor of Women in the Digital World, (Routledge, April 2023) Global Muckraking: 100 Years of Investigative Reporting from Around the World (New Press, 2014) and African Muckraking: 75 years of Investigative journalism from Africa (Jakana 2017) She is the editor of Media Capture: How Money, Digital Platforms and Governments Control the News (Columbia University Press 2021.) Her research with economist Haaris Mateen on the valuation of news has been cited in the Atlantic, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post and many other publications. She is a leading thinker and commentator on AI and publishing, media sustainability as well as mis/disinformation and media impact.
Education
- PhD with honors, University of Navarra
- MS, Columbia University, School of Journalism
- BA, Reed College
Affiliations
- Natural Resource Governance Initiative
- Global Reporting Center, University of British Columbia
- Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)
- Thomson Reuters Foundation (US)
- Founder, www.journalismtraining.net
- Media & Journalism Research Center, University of Santiago (Spain)
Research And Publications
Sep 2020
Roosevelt Institute
Mis-and Disinformation Online: A Taxonomy of Solutions
Jul 2020
Universidad de Navarra
Sep 2019
Social Science Computer Review
Sep 2019
German Marshall Fund of the United States
In The Media
Technology & Innovation
A new policy brief on the topic put out by Columbia University scholars last week found that AI is fast becoming the preferred method for financial scams in particular
Mar 16 2026
Financial Times
Technology & Innovation
According to senior lecturer Anya Schiffrin and university professor Joseph Stiglitz, AI deepfakes used in online fraud are a global problem. It is far more efficient for gatekeepers, such as digital platforms like Meta, where scam advertisements circulate, to take measures to prevent scams than to expect individual users to recognize and avoid deception.
Mar 12 2026
The Point
Technology & Innovation
Deepfakes are being weaponized for financial fraud worldwide — and regulation hasn't caught up. A new Data & Society Policy Brief from SIPA's Anya Schiffrin, coauthored with four SIPA students and alumni, examines what's broken in current approaches and what needs to change. Supported by an IGP faculty research grant.
Mar 11 2026
Data & Society
Technology & Innovation
In a working paper co-written by Anya Schiffrin and Roberta Carlini, the authors propose statutory licensing, a proposal requiring AI companies to pay publishers for journalism used to train their systems, past and future.
Mar 09 2026
Poynter
Technology & Innovation
In a new working paper, senior lecturer Anya Schiffrin and Roberta Carlini argue that AI firms should automatically pay for the content they use. The most sustainable policy is to require payment to publishers and creators, known as “statutory licensing”, for use of their output.
Feb 15 2026
Tomorrow's Affairs