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Sarah Cohen, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy  

Office Location: 140 Sanford Building
Office Phone: (919) 613-7348
Duke Box: 90241
Email Address: sarah.cohen@duke.edu

Areas of Expertise

(202) 213-6980

  • Media and Communications, Public Affairs Journalism

Education:
MA, University of Maryland, College Park, 1992
BA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1979

Office Hours:
10-12 Tuesday

Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. S. Cohen, F. Viegas, M. Wattenberg. "TimeFlow: a timeline and chronology tool for investigative analysis." (July, 2010). Released open source software for use in investigative reporting. It has been incorporated into training sessions in investigative reporting and has been downloaded at least 500 times. [available here]
  2. S. Cohen, J. Hamilton, F. Turner. "Computational Journalism: How Computer Scientists can Empower Democracy's Watchdogs." Communications of the Association of Computing Machinery (October, 2011). [fulltext]

Bio/Profile
Sarah Cohen joined the Sanford School in 2009 after working for 15 years as a reporter and editor, most recently for The Washington Post.

She has shared in most major journalism awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, the Selden Ring award and the Investigative Reporters and Editors' Gold Medal. Cohen has taught journalism courses at the University of Maryland and is the author of “Numbers in the Newsroom: Using Math and Statistics in News.”

Since joining Sanford, she has focused on developing tools and techniques for investigative reporting. In July 2010, she worked with visualization experts to create TimeFlow, a chronology and timeline tool for investigative analysis.

Cohen is active in open government and government transparency activities.

She was elected to the board of directors of Investigative REporters and Editors in 2010. IRE is a 4,000-member organization dedicated to improving accountability reporting worldwide. Cohen also serves as an adviser to numerous news organizations, including the Center for Investigative Reporting in Berkeley, Calif.

Sarah Cohen