Vera Haller
Professor

Weissman School of Arts & Sciences
Baruch College, CUNY

Phone: 646-312-4338
Room 7-253, Vertical Campus
E-mail: Vera_Haller@baruch.cuny.edu

Vera Haller comes to Baruch after a long career as a reporter and editor that evolved from traditional news jobs to new media leadership. Most recently, she was the editor-in-chief of the Tribune-owned free daily, amNewYork, where she shaped coverage of New York City for the 300,000-plus circulation newspaper.

Haller worked closely with the staff of amNY.com to coordinate print side and Web site coverage, and to develop ways to use the paper as a vehicle to drive readership online.

Before moving to amNewYork, Haller was editor of NYNewsday.com, Newsday’s Web site

devoted to New York City news. She was one of the founding staff members; she helped launch the award-winning site after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At NYNewsday.com, Haller practiced all aspects of online journalism – from updating the site with breaking news to shooting and editing video reports to producing large multimedia features. Haller won a New York Press Club Front Page Award in 2005 for a Web feature about the subway system’s centennial.

She began her journalism career at The Associated Press, where she was a reporter and editor in its New York bureau. She spent many years as a court reporter, covering such cases as Leona Helmsley’s tax evasion trial, the racketeering trial of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos and various insider trading and Mafia prosecutions. She also covered a wide range of stories in areas of crime, politics, fashion and culture.

During the 1990s, Haller worked overseas, including four years as a reporter for Reuters in Rome where she covered stories about political corruption, the Vatican and Italian arts and culture. While in Rome, she also contributed articles to The Washington Post on a regular basis.

Moving to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1998, she established a freelance career, publishing articles in USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes International and The International Herald Tribune among other publications. She wrote about the AIDS crisis in southern Africa and the transition to a post-apartheid democracy. She also co-wrote the content for Time Out’s Web site on Johannesburg. Upon return to New York, Haller worked as a writer for CNN before joining Newsday.

She is a graduate of Boston University. She speaks Italian and German.