Marian Chia-Ming Liu Is Elevating the Business of Journalism

Reporters are always thinking about what’s next. For veteran journalist Marian Chia-Ming Liu (MBA 2011), “next” meant an Executive MBA at the Foster School of Business. 

Today, you’ll find her on the East Coast in her role as Projects Editor of Newsroom Initiatives and Partnerships for The Washington Post. Liu, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2022 for her team’s Capitol riot coverage, is laser-focused on new projects that expand the reach of Post journalism. 

But from 2009 to 2011, you would have found Liu on a different beat as the Music and Pop Culture Reporter for The Seattle Times—and working towards her Executive MBA at the Foster School.

Seeking challenges beyond journalism

While all Executive MBA students have unique reasons for pursuing an advanced degree, Liu stands out because of two factors. First, she is a passionate lifelong learner who thrives on different challenges. Second, she wanted to diversify her skillset and prepare for future opportunities, even those she hadn’t identified yet.

While working at the Times, Liu researched business schools. She toured campuses, sat in on classes, and gauged each school’s overall climate, which ranged from hyper-competitive to collegial. Liu wanted to surround herself with people she could learn from, not compete with. She found the right program on her doorstep: the Foster School’s 21-month Executive MBA program.

“Foster’s cohort system is a safe environment to learn at, and I wanted to go to business school to gain new skills and knowledge to expand my journalism career,” explains Liu.

“Journalism is a cutthroat industry, and I embrace that competition—but it’s not an environment conducive to learning,” she continues. “Foster’s Executive MBA program is the opposite. The program’s emphasis on teamwork prepares you for real-life leadership, but it’s much deeper than that. I had been through other leadership programs before, but nothing came close to the learning environment at Foster.”

Business school by day, music critic by night

Anyone living in Seattle during the late 2000s will remember it as a pivotal time for music. Liu was in the trenches, reporting on grunge, rock, pop, and folk. Almost immediately, she identified coverage gaps—stories that had immense potential interest for readers but that weren’t being told. At the time, there was little to no coverage of Asian artists (K-Pop didn’t become widely popular in the U.S. until 2012), and a lack of diversity in the music and pop culture section overall.

Liu set out to drive change by honing her skills in identifying new trends. Not only did she break stories about Asian artists and Asian-American artists, but she also lobbied for coverage of artists who had never received any ink. She built a reputation for being the first reporter to cover artists who would later make significant breakthroughs in mainstream music, from local favorite Blue Scholars to a rare interview with neo-soul star Maxwell. She also profiled the first Korean act to rank on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Wonder Girls, on their first American tour with the Jonas Brothers. She even confessed to being a New Kids on the Block fan. Other journalists took notice.

Learning entrepreneurship in business school

At the Foster School, Liu immersed herself in learning everything possible about entrepreneurship. In the back of her mind, she wanted to pivot from writer to editor and project leader, and she believed the MBA could prepare her to lead a large team. 

“My goal is to innovate within journalism—to launch startup-like projects within a newspaper that were created to reach new audiences—and that takes leadership, people management, negotiation skills, and operations expertise,” she explains. “Journalists aren’t trained in managing teams or launching new products, and that’s where the MBA proved essential.”

Small class sizes created an environment in which students looked out for each other personally and professionally, willing to share their expertise with others.

“Some business schools rank students against each other; Foster does the opposite,” explains Liu. “Students work together and draw on each other—I brought marketing and communications expertise to the table, while others brought years of experience in finance, international business, and accounting from diverse industries like healthcare, banking, and tech.”

Launching new products and projects with a journalistic lens

The entrepreneurship skills Liu honed at the Foster School have served her well across her journalistic career. 

Following graduation, Liu launched a new entertainment site and app for the South Florida Sun Sentinel—with the sole focus of answering the question we all have, “What’s there to do tonight?” She then moved from reaching hyperlocal audiences to international ones,  working for CNN in Hong Kong as a Senior Multiplatform Editor, producing five of their sites and social – Business, Tech, Travel, Entertainment and Media—as a part of the media company’s 24-hour operation on news. She also continued to cover Asian music, interviewing BTS on their meteoric rise. 

Following CNN, she tried her hand at communications to move back to the States to get married. She dove into crafting press releases, product development, executive media coaching, plus international and domestic social media, but she missed her first love of journalism.

So, when The Post came calling, she left for D.C.  She helped launch The Post’s digital travel vertical, By The Way, before moving to the Metro and training the entire section on audience engagement and a new content management system. Recently, she launched several projects to reach younger and more diverse audiences, including stories about Asian culture, documenting the rise in anti-Asian attacks, and why K-pop is so popular. She also directed the launch of the new Style section, covering news from the front lines of culture, plus Well+Being, wellness stories about bodies of all shapes, sizes, and colors. She’s also managed projects utilizing technology to better monetize journalism, like a personalized extreme weather tracker. 

“Pursuing the MBA helped me to approach new projects at the Post with a business perspective, ensuring that we’re delivering what readers want and tapping into new opportunities,” she explains. “I focus on reaching different audiences and how to get our stories and content in front of more people, extending the power of journalism. Sometimes, that means an entirely new approach that brings together teams of journalists, designers, and engineers. I find this work especially meaningful because we tell stories that matter, stories that may not otherwise be heard.”

Liu’s most personal story was inspired by her name—or rather, why she stopped using her Chinese middle name, Chia-Ming. She went to college and launched her journalism career as Marian Liu. After covering the anti-Asian attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Atlanta shootings, Liu realized she needed to be proud of her roots, and reclaimed her Chinese name. Her byline is Marian Chia-Ming Liu. We warmly encourage you to read her story here. She’s now working on a book about names and identity.

Business school friendships built to last

Asked to describe the Foster Executive MBA experience, Liu replies, “It was life-changing.”

Liu and her Foster Executive MBA classmates still talk, “We’re like brothers, like family,” she continues. 

Looking back on her working full-time while pursuing the Executive MBA, Liu emphasizes that it wasn’t easy. Balancing school, family, and work was immensely challenging, especially when that meant late-night concerts and early-morning deadlines. Everyone was balancing. 

“I would do it again,” said Liu. “It was one of the most rewarding and best times of my life.”

Learn more about the Foster School of Business Executive MBA here.

Photography by Krstina Perez