This week, watch our interview with Alex Spangher on Building the Future of News

Cloudwalkers is now on Amazon Prime Video.

A classically trained musician and former data scientist at The New York Times, Alex Spangher is now a Ph.D. student at USC’s Information Sciences Institute, where he’s rethinking the future of journalism. As local newsrooms shrink and misinformation grows, Spangher is designing tools that help journalists surface untold stories, reach underrepresented voices, and rebuild trust with the communities they serve.

From machine learning models that scan court transcripts for story leads to systems that suggest more diverse sources in real time, his work asks a fundamental question: Can technology make journalism more just, not just faster?

This is the story of a researcher working at the intersection of AI, media, and social impact—one who sees both code and reporting as acts of public service.

Published on October 16th, 2025

Last updated on October 16th, 2025