Post Bac research cold emailing

I'm a recent Columbia grad that is torn between law school and grad school. I had originally planned to work but after months of applying and interviewing 8 hours a day like it's a full time job, I need to shift gears. I want to email professors at the journalism school in the data journalism program and ask if I can help with any research or ongoing projects, but I don't know if cold emailing ever works. There's one prof in particular whose research is really topical and interesting to me, is there any chance I can get some type of RA position by cold emailing?