Point Park names Andrew Conte director of Center for Media Innovation Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Point Park University's cutting-edge Center for Media Innovation will be led by Andrew Conte, an award-winning investigative reporter from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
-- Paul Hennigan
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In addition to his work as a journalist, Conte has spent the last 10 years as a part-time professor and director of the Point Park News Service. Under Conte's leadership, the news service provides opportunities for journalism students to place their work in professional media publications.
The Center for Media Innovation is a learning center where students can merge their energy, talent and ambition into a central location, while offering the opportunity to work with the latest technology.
"The media industry continues to rapidly evolve in the digital age, and it's critical the Center be led by someone who has lived professionally in that world," said Paul Hennigan, president of Point Park.
As director of the Center for Media Innovation, Conte will collaborate with University professors, instructors, students and leaders of student-run media operations to facilitate the best use of the Center. He will work closely with students, faculty, professional journalists and the public to ensure the Center's vitality.
Conte holds a bachelor's degree in American Studies from Dickinson College and a master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University. After three years at the Cincinnati Post, Conte came to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in 2001. He has been a part of many major investigative stories at the Tribune-Review, including a 2008 series of stories that uncovered doctors who were performing unnecessary liver transplants.
"Andy is a remarkable reporter, and his work for the Trib has been outstanding," said Tribune-Review Editor Frank Craig. "He has developed a strong relationship between the Trib and Point Park over the past decade, even as he won many of journalism's major investigative awards. We are all thrilled that he will continue his relationship with the Trib as he helps to build a university program that can develop the next generation of talented, dedicated journalists - reporters like Andy himself."
The 4,000-square-foot center, designed by Pittsburgh-based GBBN Architects, will cost $2.5 million to build and is made possible, in part, with a grant from the Allegheny Foundation. Trib Total Media is a sponsor of the Center.
Located at Wood Street and Third Avenue, the Center will bring to life another key corner of the Central Business District. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls, flat-screen televisions and a digital ticker will offer a New York City-style media hub where passersby can be entertained and informed as students learn their craft.
The Center will act as a critical educational complement to Point Park's Academic Village Initiative, the multi-block living and learning hub that has led to a transformation in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh.
"Point Park University has a reputation for training world-class professionals in the communications and media industry. The Center will allow us to elevate that training to the highest possible quality," Hennigan said. "The space will be a tool for all disciplines at our University, and we expect students from each of our schools will find ways to benefit from it."