Business & Innovations

Gain transferable skills at the largest student business on campus. Design and market products and events, analyze data, generate revenue, and more.

What is our mission?

Spectator's mission has two parts equal in importance. We create publications, products, and events united by a goal of helping our audience make the most out of their Columbia experience. Spectator has a 140 year tradition of doing this through journalism, and we still know that our best and most effective work comes through telling in-depth, well reported stories that hold those in power accountable for the decisions they make. 

What our staff gets out of the experience of working at Spectator is as important to us as the work we do. We take the growth and development of our staff members so seriously that we consider it an explicit part of our mission, not of secondary benefit to what Spectator creates. Through doing the work of journalism, business, and technology, our staff members grow as people, thinkers, and leaders in a way that is transferable to any industry.

who Should join?

No matter what industry you want to pursue, Spectator is the best way to spend your extracurricular time on campus. There are many opportunities to join Spectator’s staff right away. Any first-year students who are accepted as staff members will be eligible to apply to Spectator’s work-study program immediately. Spectator can serve as a student's work-study job for those that receive financial aid.

to get started, fill out the form below and attend an open house.

Open houses will be held at the Spectator office, located at 2875 Broadway (112th and Broadway, next to Pinkberry). Please note that by filing out this form, you will automatically be subscribed to Spectator's Wake Up Call email, a daily digest of tips and trending stories relevant to your life at Columbia.

organizational highlights

switching to a weekly print model

In Spring 2014, the Columbia Daily Spectator became the first Ivy League newspaper to shift out of the daily print model. We did this so we could focus more on the quality of the work we do and less on its presentation in print, and to shift financial resources to areas like work-study that were very important to us. A year into the decision, we couldn't be happier. 

partnership with the washington post

In September 2014, the Washington Post began providing our publications with digital tools that enhance our journalism and expand our options for storytelling. This technology is what The Post uses every day for its own journalists, and it has already helped Spectator elevate the ways we can present stories online.  Our partnership also gives our product and development teams great access to a world-class tech shop. Spectator also launched a new website in August 2015; the site, though designed and developed by Spec staff, is powered by technology from the Washington Post.

expanded work-study program

Juggling a work-study job and Spectator on top of a full academic course load can be challenging, which is why Spectator can actually serve as the work-study job for those staff members accepted into the program. Spectator's goal is to cover as many staff members as is financially possible, and can currently cover nearly fifty students.

CREATING AN IMPACT

Across all of our websites and apps, the work we do is read and used by thousands and thousands of members of the Columbia community each and every day. We take that responsibility very seriously, and constantly seek to improve the degree to which our work helps our audience get the most out of their Columbia experience. 

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Spectator's extensive alumni network allows for mentorship opportunities and internship leads. There are hundreds of alumni working in every industry imaginable who will want to get to know you just because you're a Speccie.