By Jackson DeMos
Callie Schweitzer , a 2011 USC Annenberg graduate with a B.A. in Print and Digital Journalism, said she is honored to be included on Forbes’ just-released “30 Under 30” media list.
The magazine calls Schweitzer and her fellow winners “the next generation of media moguls, machers and mavens.”
“I owe so much of my career to USC and my professors at Annenberg who taught me so much,” Schweitzer said. “My time as editor-in-chief of Neon Tommy is what helped me get my first job and taught me the fundamentals of running a digital publication. I am so grateful to have had such amazing real world experience while I was still in college.”
During Schweitzer’s time at Neon Tommy, the digital news site racked up many honors, including a Los Angeles Press Club award for a Schweitzer-led investigative article on swine flu deaths.
"Our stories really go a step beyond what a lot of the other LA media are doing,” Schweitzer said at the time. “Our swine flu story is proof of that. The story really put a face on the disease in our area. We found that in some cases, family members didn’t even know their loved ones had died from swine flu.”
Schweitzer’s career has already taken her from Talking Points Memo to Vox Media, where she is director of marketing and special projects.
“One of New York City’s best-networked youngsters, she makes it her job to be everywhere, both in the flesh and in digital form, on behalf of fast-growing Vox Media (The Verge, Polygon, SB Nation),” according to the Forbes article. "Previously she was deputy publisher at Talking Points Memo.”
The Forbes list “was compiled with the help of three industry experts who served as judges, using nominations from a variety of sources, including a small number of trusted nominators and social media crowdsourcing," according to the article.
“McKay Coppins, Jimmy Soni and Callie Schweitzer all know that it’s not about climbing the career ladder anymore; it’s about catching a ride on a rocket ship,” the article stated, also mentioning fellow winners Coppins and Soni. “Buzzfeed, the Huffington Post and Vox Media are the kind of fast-growing companies careers and reputations are made on.”
School of Journalism Director Geneva Overholser said Schweitzer is phenomenally talented, energetic, passionate and engaging.
"Forbes is recognizing the indisputable here, and what a good thing that is," Overholser said. "Hurray for Callie!"
Added Marc Cooper, journalism professor and director of Annenberg Digital News, which publishes Neon Tommy: "Callie is the future in the here and now."
