Award-winning journalism team includes CJA director

The Chicago Journalists Association is pleased to announce that another member of its associate board was recently recognized for her journalism skills.

Lyanne Alfaro was part of the CNBC social team when it received the 2015 Best in Business Award for social media coverage from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers earlier this year.

“I’ve watched Lyanne’s journalism endeavors over the past couple of years, and she’s always motivated to tackle bigger challenges,” said CJA associate board chairman, Stephanie Choporis. “It doesn’t surprise me that she’s part of an award-winning team.”

Alfaro graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last year and has been a CNBC associate producer since December. Read more about her CNBC experiences in the article she contributed below:

Social media is an ever-evolving medium. The CNBC team works hard to create new ways to tell stories on every platform where people are consuming content by providing not only breaking news, but also behind-the-scenes access to the biggest names and events that matter to our audience.

The CNBC social team pictured clockwise from upper left: Lyanne Alfaro, associate producer, Tara Elwin, designer, Elisa Bellcishta, producer, Anna Gonzalez, social media director and Sandy Maltzman, social media editor. Not pictured: Steve Kopack, breaking news. Photo courtesy of CNBC.

Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center found that 62 percent of U.S. adults get news on social media, making it clear that it is important for news organizations to responsibly broadcast on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. By collaborating with reporters, editors and video producers in the newsroom, we are able to accurately deliver news and information that our users care about, whether it’s a Facebook Live video with the COO of Hyperloop at a gathering for tech leaders or making graphics and coordinating Snapchat coverage in London for the latest “Brexit” news.

As an Associate Producer for our social team working on our Business News content, I work with both CNBC.com editors and TV producers to bring news to CNBC’s social networks in a timely manner and highlight what our users need to know. When breaking news happens, it is important we coordinate with the reporters and producers on the ground to give our users the dynamic content they come to CNBC for. We frequently gather video clips with traders from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as well as conduct Facebook Live interviews with our anchors and reporters, providing the latest breaking news and analysis. And because the dynamics of social media change every day, we always research and try out alternative apps, from ListApp to OnlyPult, to see how we can make the best use of them as a news organization.

Honored with the 2015 Best in Business Award for social media coverage by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the CNBC social team was recognized for making challenging business and economic topics accessible to a wide audience.

The team is led by Social Media Director Anna Gonzalez, who has ten years of experience in news, and Sandy Maltzman, a social media editor who knows the ins and outs of CNBC, having been with the network for more than 13 years. Steve Kopack brings his expertise in breaking news, Elisa Bellchista specializes in finance and I bring my reporting background and social experience to the table. Team chemistry plays a large role in the work we do – and with social media changing every day, it is crucial to work with people who can quickly adjust and execute.