Wyatt King

Welcome! I am a rising senior at Columbia University studying political science and statistics with a passion for both journalism and political science research. 

My interest in journalism was sparked at the beginning of my first year in college. Working for the Columbia Daily Spectator, I eventually became the executive producer for the 148th Managing Board, directing Spectator's video content. For a year, I led a team of 12 capable and enthusiastic video journalists who told stories about and for Columbia students and the residents of the neighboring area. 

During my tenure as executive producer, the amount of video content that Spectator produced increased dramatically, and the increase coincided with one of the most tumultuous moments in Columbia's recent memory. In January, 2024, I reported on a hazardous chemical being sprayed at a pro-Palestinian rally, and in April, I covered the encampment, the occupation of Hamilton Hall, and the related arrests. My reporting for the Spectator was cited by national media outlets, including the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, and the New York Times. My footage also appeared on PBS Frontline.

When I'm not reporting, I spend much of my (productive) time in class and doing school work. My classes in security studies, political economy, and statistics are those that excite me most. Among my favorite courses at university were three research seminars I took in the spring of my junior year, which all culminated in final research papers. The methodology, prose, and argument of these papers were all pretty basic, but they got me interested and invested in doing research. Currently, I'm gearing up to write my senior thesis, which will be on attitudes toward nuclear weapons in India. Using an experimental survey fielded via Amazon MTurk, I hope to test how support for a hypothetical first strike nuclear attack changes depending on a variety of strategic factors Indian decision makers may face during a crisis.

While at university, I have worked for organizations spanning journalism and advocacy. In the summer going into my junior year, I worked for PEN America, researching how journalists and writers can protect themselves against hate, harassment, and intimidation online. Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, I served as an editorial and production intern at NBC News, working for Top Story with Tom Llamas. This fall, I will be a student scholar at the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace. Looking toward future careers, I hope to regularly apply the research skills I have developed at University with the tenacity and resolve I had to build while reporting on the student protests at Columbia. As of right now, I'm pretty confident this will lead me into doing academic research--whether that be in security studies or political economy. Having said that, there's also a chance I wind up pursuing a career in journalism or the foreign service.