Nikki Usher is an assistant professor at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs this fall. She received her PhD in May 2011 from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She has published and blogged about topics ranging from citizen journalism, the origins of news on the web, the implications of the new media economy and news business models, and the changing identity of legacy journalists. Her dissertation is focused on how business newsrooms are adapting to the changing digital environment, with the The New York Times as her principal research site. She has conducted field research at NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, Marketplace public radio, TheStreet.com, and The Times. She was also a research assistant for the Knight Digital Media Center, where she still assists in projects looking at the evolution of newsroom leadership. Prior to life as an academic, Nikki was a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. You can reach her at nusher@usc.edu.