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Sharon Moshavi
President, ICFJ
Sharon Moshavi is the President of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), a prominent non-profit organization dedicated to supporting journalists globally. She has held this position since September 2021, after serving in various roles within the organization since 2007, including Senior Vice President and Director of Digital Media.
Professional Background
- Leadership Role: As president, Moshavi has implemented a new strategic direction for ICFJ, focusing on enhancing program impact and efficiency, developing innovative fundraising models, and fostering a robust communication strategy. Under her leadership, ICFJ has expanded its network to support over 160,000 journalists across more than 20 countries.12
- Journalism Experience: Moshavi has an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a correspondent for major publications such as The Boston Globe, Newsday, and BusinessWeek. Her reporting has covered significant media developments, including the rise of major news networks like Fox News and CNN.23
Education
Moshavi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Columbia University, which has contributed to her strong communication skills and editorial expertise.1
Skills and Expertise
Her professional skills include:
- Leadership: Proven ability to inspire and lead teams.
- Fundraising: Successful in developing new funding strategies.
- Strategic Planning: Expertise in organizational development and management.
- Communication: Strong storytelling capabilities and thought leadership.14
Sharon Moshavi's commitment to journalism and media advancement is reflected in her dynamic leadership at ICFJ, where she continues to advocate for the importance of journalism in society.
Highlights
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A Ukrainian journalist in our network reached out recently with some worrisome updates. Her news outlet, Socportal, reports on the war in four languages – and experienced a huge decline in traffic seemingly overnight. She told us their daily site traffic dropped by almost 70% and ad revenue by nearly 80%.
The cause? The core algorithm update from Google that was rolled out in March.
This has affected a lot of publishers in significant ways. The stakes are particularly high when it comes to Ukrainian media reporting on the war, who are working to push back against an avalanche of Russian disinformation.
David Clinch, a media consultant who coached Socportal as part of ICFJ’s news business hub,, said:
“We don't think that Google woke up one morning and decided to punish Ukrainian news sites. Our concern, particularly in Ukraine during a war, during a battle of misinformation, is that not much, if anything, was done to forewarn or help or compensate for the likely impact of this initial change.”
I am equally concerned. It is an unintended consequence but a major one nonetheless, and I hope Google will look into the matter seriously. While @Socportal has made changes that helped improve their traffic since the algorithm update, their site visits and ad revenue continue to lag.
If people aren't visiting reliable news sites, where are they getting their information about the war? The concern is that Russian disinformation, often spread on social media, is filling the void.
Read this IJNet article examining the issue to learn more:
