Who I Am and What I Do
I’m a retired professor, former journalist, and editor of AI Insider — an occasional newsletter that demystifies the world of artificial intelligence.
With decades of experience in journalism and journalism education, I became an AI enthusiast when I retired.
This website, which used to be home to my consulting business, MJ Internet Consulting, is now a springboard to my newsletter and an archive of my past exploits.
In addition to going down AI rabbit holes, I am currently an Expert in Residence at Boston University’s Spark! program at the Center for Computing and Data Science.
Bio
Michelle Johnson is an Emerita Associate Professor of the Practice of Journalism at Boston University (BU).
She retired from BU in 2022, where she taught a variety of courses focused on online journalism and multimedia storytelling. Johnson is currently an Expert in Residence with BU’s Spark! Program, an experiential learning and innovation lab based in the Center for Computing and Data Science.
Johnson was named 2013 Educator of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). She served as the very first Academic Representative on the board of NABJ from 2015 to 2018.
She is currently co-chair of NABJ’s Innovation Bubble, the innovation track at the organization’s annual convention. Johnson oversaw the track from 2016 to 2023 and will step down as co-chair at the conclusion of the 2024 convention.
As NABJ Academic Rep, Johnson represented the organization in her interactions with a variety of professional and academic journalism programs and organizations including NAHJ, AAJA, ONA and NLGJA.
In 2015, Johnson was selected by Google and the Society of Professional Journalists to be a Google NewsLab trainer. For six years, under this program, she conducted training in newsrooms and at professional journalism conferences across the nation, including at NABJ’s annual conference.
For more than 20 years, she conducted multimedia training workshops for student and professional journalists for various organizations, including the Online News Association, the Maynard Institute, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Association of LGBTQ Journalists.
Johnson was part of the team that brought a digital component to NABJ’s student newsroom project in Chicago in 1978. She went on to direct the online team for many years, overseeing the training of NABJ students learning to cover news using the latest technologies.
Johnson is a former editor for the Boston Globe and boston.com. As part of the team that launched the Globe on boston.com in 1995, Johnson has long been immersed in digital journalism.
Prior to teaching at Boston University, Johnson taught as a journalist in residence at Emerson College.
A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Johnson was awarded the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Online News Association’s Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award, which honors “a senior-level individual who has significantly advanced or made lasting contributions to the field of digital journalism.” She was inducted into the Association of LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame in 2022. Johnson writes and edits AI Insider, a weekly newsletter that tracks the latest developments in artificial intelligence.
What I’m Up To: A Sampling
New England Small Newsroom Publishers Meeting, Boston University: What You Need to Know about AI. January 2024
Maynard Institue, Texas Christan University, Ft. Worth, Texas: AI, What You Need to Know. March 2024
Retriement Daily: AI and Journalism, March 2004
NABJ Student Bootcamp, Using AI Responsibly: Learning to use AI tools responsibly while telling your story. May 2024
National Association of Black Journalists annual convention: AI: What You Need to Know Now. August 2004
