Vanessa Blum is a Swiss army knife, using her experience, creativity, and skill to connect technology with legal journalism and innovate in the field. She joined ALM in 1999 shortly after receiving a degree in journalism, and after a hiatus in other newsrooms, returned to ALM as a federal litigation reporter in 2016. Two years later, she was appointed director of newsroom innovation, where she’s a creator and champion of new journalism initiatives. Vanessa simultaneously is a reporter and also a product strategist – launching new initiatives at ALM, including the Legal Speak podcast, which she co-created. Vanessa launched Law.com Radar, an automated journalism product combining algorithmic news tagging with ALM’s editorial expertise and allowing users to customize their news feed.