COLLEGE PARK — The University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism has named longtime Education Week editor Stacey Decker the new director of Capital News Service’s audience engagement bureau.
Capital News Service is the college’s student-powered news organization with bureaus and news teams in Annapolis, Baltimore, College Park and Washington, D.C.
Decker, a 2008 Merrill College alum and an adjunct lecturer at the college since 2022, is a journalist and educator passionate about digital news strategy and mentoring early-career journalists.
In her new role, she will help student journalists use metrics, social media, newsletters and other digital storytelling tools to maximize the audience for projects published by CNS and Merrill College’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Local News Network. She will also teach related courses on interactive design and social media strategy.
“More than ever, journalism needs to connect with audiences, old and new, that have become disillusioned and disconnected in today’s splintered media landscape,” said Merrill College Dean Rafael Lorente. “Stacey Decker brings experience in the field and the classroom, along with a passion for helping young journalists develop the audience-focused mindset required to meet users where they are.”
Decker was previously the deputy managing editor for digital at Education Week, where she oversaw the newsroom's digital strategy, managed a team of digital news specialists and helped guide editorial decision-making.
Decker began working at Education Week in 2008 and had a variety of roles and responsibilities that allowed her to hone her expertise in audience engagement, digital storytelling, news products, workflow development and more. Among other projects, she worked on a yearslong effort to redesign, replatform and relaunch edweek.org.
In 2020, Decker was selected to participate in the Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media.
She lives with her family, including her two kids, in Rockville, Maryland.
For more information, contact:
Josh Land
joshland@umd.edu
301-405-1321