2011 Fellows
Arizona State 2011
Rachel Albin Rachel Albin is a bilingual reporter and photographer from Nebraska. Her past projects include university reports on immigration and Bolivian coca. She also investigated migrants’ post-traumatic stress disorder along the Arizona-Sonora border for the Daily Nebraskan, the student paper of which she was managing editor from August 2010 to December 2010. Earlier in college she interned at the Kearney (Neb.) Hub and the Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune. She graduated with her bachelor's in journalism in May 2011. Website
Kyle Bruggeman Kyle Bruggeman is a visual journalist at heart with a degree in graphic design and a passion for photojournalism. Bruggeman hails from Lincoln, Neb., and is proud to call himself a husker. He enjoys living in a place where people still say hello on the street and a bike ride can get you anywhere. A midwestern work ethic and an addiction to french-press coffee keeps him going through it all. LinkedIn Website
Alicia Cormie graduated from Arizona State University in May 2011 with a bachelor's degree in journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a minor in nonprofit management from the College of Public Programs. Alicia has been an editorial contributor for PHOENIX Magazine, the Cronkite Journal and the Scottsdale Independent as well as a social media and content manager for GrowAZ.org. Alicia recently developed an interest in multimedia storytelling and international reporting after spending a summer reporting in Perpignan, France.
Nicole Gilbert Nicole Gilbert is a 21-year-old San Diego native who has been studying at Arizona State University for the past three years. She will graduate in 2012 with a master's degree and two bachelor's degrees in Mass Communication, Journalism and Sustainability, respectfully. Nicole has worked for ASU Student Media, AZ Fact Check, the Associated Press and ITV Cable 16 San Diego. She is working on a multimedia project about Phoenix air quality as her thesis for Barrett, the Honors College. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Joanne Ingram Joanne Ingram moved to Phoenix to pursue a master's at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism, having earned her BA in communication from the University of New Mexico in 2004. Joanne expects to graduate in December 2011 and hopes to pursue a career in print journalism. Her articles have been published in the East Valley Tribune, Tucson Sentinel, Foothills Focus and Cronkite News. She was also a contributor on ASU’s State of Change website, which won two BEA awards this year. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and her 3-year-old daughter. Twitter Website
Max Levy Max Levy is a Swedish American from the suburbs of Washington who grew up in the Northeast but scratched the cross-country itch and found his way to Arizona State University. He aspires to be in journalism - as a journalist or in some other capacity - and spends his free time pondering the myriad problems/opportunities facing the industry.
Teresa Lostroh is a farm girl from Malcolm, Neb (pop. 450). As a senior news-editorial and Spanish major, she's spent two semesters as a reporter/videographer for ABC News on Campus; a summer at the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund copy editing intern; a summer as a reporting intern at the Norfolk Daily News; and 2 1/2 years as a copy editor and reporter at the Daily Nebraskan. Aside from journalism, her main interests are Spanish and traveling, which fortunately go hand-in-hand. Lostroh spent a full semester in San José, Costa Rica in 2010. Twitter
Andrew Mach is a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln pursuing degrees in broadcasting, news-editorial and German, with a concentration in history. Mach has been a reporter, videographer and producer for ABC News, a multimedia journalist for The Washington Post, a reporter for The Local-Berlin, an online English news portal, in Berlin, Germany, and an associate producer for ZDF Morgenmagazin, the morning show of Europe's largest television network, also in Berlin. Mach is a native of Aberdeen, S.D. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
Tarryn Mento An aspiring multimedia journalist, Tarryn Mento is a Syracuse, N.Y., native and completed her undergraduate education in journalism at University at Albany. She was a staff writer for the Albany Student Press and an editorial intern for the Times Union newspaper in the New York Capital Region. She was a contributing writer for Cronkite News Service, covering election night 2010. She also assisted on web design for the award-winning website "State of Change." Tarryn is currently pursuing her graduate degree at The Walter Cronkite School. Twitter
Nathan O'Neal is from Globe, Ariz., studying broadcast journalism at Arizona State University. He expects to graduate in May 2012 with a master’s and bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. He has spent the last year working as the bureau chief for the ABC News on Campus Bureau at ASU. O’Neal also interned at the NBC affiliate news station in Phoenix, attended the Institute of Political Journalism at Georgetown University and interned at a digital media company in Washington, D.C.. He recently produced a 30-minute documentary about immigration issues in the Dominican Republic. Twitter Website
Whitney Phillips Whitney Phillips graduated with a bachelor of science in mass communication from Dixie State College in southern Utah in May 2010. As an undergrad, Whitney spent two years as a section editor for the weekly college newspaper. She began studying at the Cronkite School at ASU in August 2010. So far, she has worked on several journalism projects including the award-winning “State of Change” multimedia project. She also reported from the Dominican Republic, exploring the issue of statelessness among Haitians. Twitter Facebook
Brandon Quester Brandon Quester is an award-winning photojournalist and reporter in his second semester as a graduate student in journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Prior to joining the Cronkite School in 2010, Quester spent the previous five years working in the journalism industry, producing work throughout the world. Some of his work has focused on issues such as children living along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. soldiers serving in Kuwait and Iraq and street children living in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Brad Racino Brad Racino is a graduate student pursuing a Master's degree in photojournalism and investigative reporting. He graduated from SUNY Albany in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and spent the next six years in various photography jobs, from shooting for a local newspaper to managing a photography company in New York to shooting underwater adventure tours in the Bahamas for a production company. LinkedIn Facebook Website
Stephanie Snyder Stephanie Snyder, a multimedia journalist in Phoenix, is pursuing a master’s in mass communication and bachelor’s in print journalism at ASU’s Cronkite School, along with a Spanish minor. Stephanie has covered breaking news for the Arizona Republic and the state legislature for the Arizona Capitol Times, while also co-founding the Downtown Devil, an independent, student-run website covering downtown Phoenix. Stephanie's interest in in-depth reporting started with exploring state agencies violating an energy-reduction law, consequences faced by young Latinos without male role models and the economic effect of Haitian immigration in the Dominican Republic. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
Dustin Volz Dustin Volz is a print-oriented multimedia journalist attending ASU's Cronkite School in Phoenix where he has garnered experience writing for various print and online publications. He has interned for The Arizona Republic as a copy editor and online-content coordinator, covered the state legislature for the Arizona Capitol Times and written a weekly column for ASU's student newspaper, The State Press. Currently, Dustin is a managing editor for The Downtown Devil, an independent and student-run online publication serving downtown Phoenix. Dustin is also studying American history at ASU, with a focus on media coverage of modern warfare and diplomacy. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Joe Yerardi Joe Yerardi is a graduate student at the University of Missouri, where he is pursuing a master's degree in investigative reporting. He has previously worked at the ABC News Investigative Unit, the Philadelphia Daily News and the Columbia Missourian. Upon graduating in May, 2012, he hopes to pursue a career in database journalism and investigative reporting. Twitter
Berkeley 2011
Vanessa Carr Vanessa Carr is a freelance video producer and documentary photographer. She has interned at Need to Know on PBS, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. An East Coast native, she has a B.A. in environmental biology from Columbia University and master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Mario Furloni Mario Furloni studies at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where he's specializing in video documentary. He also studies radio production. Mario grew up in a farm outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and now lives in Oakland, CA.
Thomas Gorman Writer, editor, shooter, and sound recorder. Interested in the stories touching on science, food, and the environment. LinkedIn
Bridget Huber Bridget is a graduate student in Journalism and Public Health at UC Berkeley. Her print and radio stories have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, The Associated Press, KALW, GOOD and Civil Eats. Twitter
Andrea Jezovit Andrea Jezovit is a Toronto-born journalist and editor turned web geek. She studied magazine journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto, and is currently completing an MSc in Electronic Publishing at City University London. She's interested in web development, data visualization, and innovative ways of telling stories online. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Natalie Jones Natalie grew up in Washington, D.C., going to farms only on special occasions to pick berries, apples or pumpkins. She went west for college in Southern California, where she majored in environmental studies, and worked her way up to the Bay Area after that. Natalie originally intended to find a career in environmental education before she decided to pursue journalism. As a journalist, she has worked in a variety of media, producing content for Aspen Public Radio in Aspen, Colorado, Bay Area public radio stations KQED and KALW and the Point Reyes Light newspaper in Marin County. She has lived in the Bay Area since 2004. Natalie is interested in reporting on politics, health, science and environmental issues. Website
Diana Jou Diana Jou is a multimedia producer interested in international reporting, food, and technology. She was raised in Los Angeles and has lived and worked in Germany, Japan, and Taiwan. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and has experience in graphic design. She is currently doing a video internship with the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong. Twitter Website
Annie Mathews Annie Mathews is a public policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Before graduate school she worked at C.E.O. Women—a non-profit organization that works with immigrant women in Oakland. She is interested in policy, local politics, immigration and culture. Originally from Boston, she has lived in Argentina and California in her adult life. She speaks Spanish and a little bit of Portuguese. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2006.
Kate McLean Kate is a freelance reporter and producer in documentary journalism. She's played a variety of roles in the production process--from sound recordist to field producer to researcher. Her written work has appeared in the Bay Area pages of The New York Times and The Bay Citizen. She's also worked as an associate producer on public television productions, most recently the PBS special "The Botany of Desire." Her multimedia work has received several awards, including the Randy Shilts Memorial Award for Exceptional Reporting.
Lily Mihalik Lily Mihalik is a multimedia and print journalist interested in food, science, and environmental reporting. Before arriving at Berkeley Lily interned at San Francisco's KQED Public Radio and KUOW Public Radio in Seattle. Most recently Lily spent the summer reporting on grizzly bears, ship anchors and invasive plants in Sitka, Alaska. Lily is an Bill and Melinda Gates African Reporting Fellow. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Brooke Minters Brooke Minters is a journalist, who has reported on food, health, immigration, and culture. She works at PBS Frontline. She previously was a Kaiser Family Foundation Media Intern on Health Reporting at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work has also appeared in Mission Loc@l, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, and CNN. She's from L.A. Facebook
Carl Nasman Carl Nasman is a News 21 fellow and a television journalism student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Nasman worked for CBS College Sports and ESPN before moving back to the Bay Area. Nasman is a fluent Spanish speaker and helped create a youth radio program while living in Honduras. Twitter Website
Rosa Ramirez Rosa Ramirez is passionate about telling stories from the communities she covers. And that shows in her work. Rosa has covered immigration, breaking news, courts and Hispanic affairs for various publications including the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Hispanic Link News Service, Rocky Mountain News. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Rebecca Wolfson is a multimedia producer and reporter with a special passion for audio storytelling. She just completed a master's degree in radio journalism at the University of Missouri. At Missouri, Wolfson produced two public radio shows for KBIA, mid-Missouri's NPR affiliate: a science show with a segment about animals and an international affairs show. She's originally from Milwaukee, and has worked as a production assistant and freelance writer in Wisconsin, New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel. She's particularly interested in science and health. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Columbia 2011
Abbey Adkison Abbey Adkison is a first year graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, working toward her MA in photojournalism. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in international studies and a minor in Spanish. Adkison freelances as a photographer and hopes to include her love of travel in a career as a documentarian and storyteller, working in stills and video. Twitter
Jason Alcorn is a multimedia journalist with a healthy appetite for data sets, government documents and his Canon 60D. He recently completed a digital reporting project on immigrant delivery workers caught up in New York City bike politics, with News21 colleague Jason Tomassini. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and School of International and Public Affairs, Alcorn has more than six years’ experience leading technology projects and online strategy for a list of clients that includes UNICEF, eBay, and Americas Quarterly. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Dewi Cooke is an Australian multimedia journalist living in New York City. A graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, she's also been a newspaper reporter in Melbourne, Australia, covering issues from welfare and housing to urban planning and natural disasters. Cooke is interested in combining interactivity with online video journalism and recently put the finishing touches on a documentary about friendship and table tennis, "Double Happiness." Twitter Website
Tamir Elterman was born in Berkeley, California as a first-generation American to Mexican-Jewish parents. After producing a feature documentary on foreigners in the Israeli Army, Tamir attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, graduating in June of 2011. Tamir is a co-founder of Three Cities Productions – a video production company – and his most recent work has appeared on NYTimes.com, the Jerusalem Post, the Huffington Post, AOLnews and Mashable. He is interested in developing online content, and offline content as well. Twitter LinkedIn
Farhod Family Farhod Family is a multimedia journalist living in Brooklyn. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, where he majored in history and French. After completing graduate coursework in international affairs at Boston University, he moved to Iran, where he covered the 2009 presidential elections in a blog for Press TV. Since returning, he has written for Tehran Bureau, a division of PBS Frontline. He received a Master of Science in digital media from the Columbia University Graduate Journalism School.
Melissa Galvez Melissa Galvez is a public policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Before graduate school, she was a reporter at KUHF Houston Public Radio, the NPR affiliate in Houston. As the NewsLab reporter, Galvez wrote on topics from politics to transportation, community events to health. She has won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, Texas Associated Press, and Houston Press Club. She has also taught 8th grade language arts with Teach for America in Houston. Galvez graduated from Princeton University in 2005 with a degree in history, and is originally from New York City. Website
Michael Keller Having spent last year living in Marseille, France, Keller just graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in digital media. While in France, he researched the effectiveness of treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder at the Centre National d'Études Scientifique. As a journalist, he is interested in combining narrative writing and interactive storytelling. He graduated magna cum laude as a double major in Comparative Literature and Psychology from Georgetown University in 2009. Keller is a native of Los Angeles. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Lea Khayata Lea Khayata is a French-Lebanese multimedia journalist who graduated with a dual degree in journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and SciencesPo Paris. She lived in Paris for five years before moving to New York City last August. She has interned at KQED radio in San Francisco and The Huffington Post Investigative Fund, as well as almost every English or French newspaper in Lebanon. Twitter Website
Emily Liedel is originally from Portland, Ore., and was an English teacher in Spain and a tour guide in New York before earning a master’s from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she wrote about food, housing issues and cultural events. She speaks French, German, Russian and Spanish, in addition to English. Her lifelong goal is to become fluent in all six official languages of the United Nations; she is learning Mandarin and plans to tackle Arabic next. Next fall she will complete a second master’s degree through Columbia’s dual degree program with the journalism school at SciencesPo in Paris.
Niharika Mandhana , a multimedia journalist living in New York, has a law degree from Bangalore, India, and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Before moving to the United States, she was a student reporter for the English language daily Bangalore Mirror. Her work has appeared on New America Media, twincities.com and citybeats.info and in the Queens Chronicle. In March, she traveled to Israel and the West Bank, where she reported on the March 15 Palestinian movement and Tel Aviv's African refugees. Twitter Facebook
Nick Pandolfo grew up in New York City and majored in education at Eugene Lang College. He taught English as a Second Language for four years in New York, China and South Korea. On a yearlong backpack across Asia and Australia before entering Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, he wrote and photographed stories about ferry travel to China and roadtripping across an Australian desert. Pandolfo has since covered education as an intern for City Hall News/The Capitol.
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Jason Tomassini Jason Tomassini is a multimedia journalist based in New York City, by way of Philadelphia and Maryland. His work has appeared in The New York Times, NYTimes.com, The Washington Post, the Wilmington News Journal, Philadelphia City Paper and other publications. Before attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, he worked as a staff writer at The Gazette newspaper chain in Silver Spring, Md., and as a freelance journalist. Currently, his professional passions involve new ways to present long-form journalism online, while his personal passions involve the National Basketball Association. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Saskia de Rothschild is a French and Italian journalist living in New York and has just received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She earlier lived in India, earning a dual master’s in economics of emerging countries from HEC Paris and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. Fluent in Spanish, she was a cultural journalist at La Nación in Buenos Aires. She hopes to focus on documentary filmmaking and long-form writing. Website Website
Maryland 2011
Jeffrey Benzing Jeffrey Benzing is a multimedia reporter from the Dallas area. He has worked at publications in central Texas, including the Texas Observer and the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, and has most recently worked as an editorial assistant at American Journalism Review in College Park, Maryland. He will cover Washington, D.C. for Capital News Service this fall and will graduate with a master's degree from the University of Maryland in December.
Maggie Clark is a Florida native and a graduate of the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. She earned her bachelor's degree in international affairs from Florida State University in 2009. Before joining News21, she worked as a journalist covering the Maryland legislative session and wrote for CQ Researcher in Washington D.C. She is reporting on food safety on the small farm. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Kerry Davis Kerry Davis is a graduate student in multimedia journalism at the University of Maryland and expects to graduate in May 2011. She worked as a television reporter at KVLY-TV in Fargo, N.D. for three years, and WPRI-TV in Providence, R.I., before getting out of journalism, missing reporting desperately and jumping back in. She bakes to relax, reads to escape and explores new areas and talks to strangers for fun.
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Esther French Esther French snapped photos of chickens in mobile coops, recorded warehouse traffic jam sounds, interviewed farmers and slogged through murky government regulations--all in the pursuit of good stories about food safety. Esther's byline has appeared in The Washington Post, as well as on regional and local news websites. Her writing ability ranges from investigative pieces to medical news to community features. She graduated in May 2011 with a double degree in journalism and Spanish from the University of Maryland. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
Judah Gross Judah Gross was born in Philadelphia. After graduating from high school he took a year off before enrolling at he University of Maryland and traveled to Israel, studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and serving as an EMT. He began studying journalism at Maryland in fall 2008. He was the editor-in-chief of The Mitzpeh, UMD's independent Jewish magazine. He has worked at a few publications: The Washington Post, The Prince George's Sentinel, Heeb Magazine and New Voices. He is very interested in photography and food. Twitter Facebook Website
Emily Hooper is a senior journalism student at the University of Maryland. Emily is interested in all form of storytelling, from traditional print to multimedia to broadcast. Currently the center editor for Unwind! Magazine, Emily has written for many publications on campus including The Diamondback. She also has experience with broadcast and multimedia journalism. Emily has previously interned at PBS 39 and NBC Philadelphia. Twitter LinkedIn
Mattea Kramer Mattea Kramer received a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a bachelor's in economics from Amherst College. She has worked in political campaigns, public health, food policy, and as a freelance writer. She's reporting on the economic drivers of food safety. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
Andy Marso Andy Marso is a versatile, award-winning journalist who has written daily stories and features for news outlets ranging from small community weeklies to The Washington Post. He has trained with top instructors at the University of Kansas and the University of Maryland. He maintains a Twitter account and a blog and is adept at multimedia and database reporting. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Robyne McCullough Robyne McCullough, a multimedia journalist from Baltimore, graduated from the University of Maryland in May 2011with a degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in Spanish language and culture. She has interned for WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore, and W-USA9 and WTTG Fox 5 in Washington. She was a dedicated member of the Maryland Newsline production team for three years working as a producer, director and technical director. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering in her community working with at-risk youth. She is an alumnus of the University of Maryland's Civicus and Jiménez-Porter Writers' House living and learning programs. Twitter
Madhu Rajaraman Madhu Rajaraman, 23, is a native of New Jersey and a master's student in multimedia journalism at the University of Maryland. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2009 from Rutgers University, with a double major in English and psychology. She has worked as a freelance reporter for the Sayreville (N.J.) Progress newspaper and the Prince George’s Sentinel, and as an intern for Cambridge University Press in New York, the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the American Journalism Review. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Maria Zilberman Maria Zilberman is a senior journalism major/creative writing minor at the University of Maryland, slated to graduate in December 2011. She spent summer 2010 as a Dow Jones News Fund business reporting interning at the Naples (Fla.) Daily News. Previously, she interned at the Huffington Post Investigative Fund in Washington and The Daily Record in Baltimore. Twitter
North Carolina 2011
Delphine Andrews Delphine Andrews is a marketer who specializes in social media and guerrilla marketing. She received her master's in strategic communications from the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication May 2011. She also received her bachelor's degree in visual communications from University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication December 2005. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
Whitney Baker Whitney is an undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill studying Multimedia Journalism and Spanish. She has worked as a writer both for the on-campus publication, The Daily Tar Heel, and for an independent culture magazine called Paste (www.pastemagazine.com). As a multimedia journalist, her interests lean towards integrating old forms of doing things into new ways of presenting them, with a focus on telling stories the way that they want to be told. She has an interest in sustainable agriculture, local food movements, environment, local government and music. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Caitlyn Greene Caitlyn is a graduate of UNC where she studied visual communication, Spanish and business administration. In Chapel Hill, she worked on award-winning team projects in Mexico, India, Bangladesh and Argentina. She is in post-production on her honors thesis project called IMMORTAL, a non-traditional documentary about our obsession with not dying. Her work has been recognized by the Hearst Foundation, College Photographer of the Year and North Carolina Press Photographer’s Association. She is especially excited about the intersection of art, journalism, cinema and technology in storytelling. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Hadley Gustafson Hadley is a multimedia artist and documentary photographer completing her master's in visual journalism at UNC, as a Park Fellow. A graduate of Wesleyan and Columbia universities, her experience includes architecture, art education, graphic design and rock n' roll management and promotion. She produced "Last Man Standing," a documentary about heroin addiction and HIV prevention; "Birth: A New Paradigm," which explores birth environments, care providers and experiences; and an interactive motion graphic explaining 40 years of Argentina's economy. She enjoys yoga and scuba diving. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Kristen Long Kristen Long is an interactive designer and recently earned a degree in visual journalism at UNC, where she was the director of interactive design at the Reese Felts Digital Newsroom. She has created websites and worked with clients both as a multimedia designer at Swarm Interactive and in freelance work. Kristen created infographics for the award-winning Living Galapagos project. She has held leadership roles in UNC’s Online News Association and Society for News Design. She is a former graphics editor at The Daily Tar Heel. Kristen plans to pursue a career in interactive design in Richmond or Washington. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Jeffrey Mittelstadt Jeff Mittelstad, pursuing a MA in journalism, holds multiple degrees: A.B. in psychology from Davidson College; M.E.M in environment from Duke; and an MBA in entrepreneurship and sustainable enterprise from UNC. He has worked for the EPA’s Office of Inspector General, evaluating air quality programs, and as a vice president and senior analyst at Bank of America working on green building and renewable energy issues. He left BOA to lead a national sustainable manufacturing initiative for a nonprofit, NACAFAM. He is on an eco-innovation and sustainability advisory board for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
Hely Olivares Hely is a first-year master's student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He worked in Washington, DC for the Organization of American States where he had a range of responsibilities involving political analysis, risk analysis and media monitoring. Prior to that, he worked as a political analyst for the DC Embassy of Venezuela, and held a number of other positions in Texas and in Virginia working on political elections and in international business. Hely is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a native of Peru.
Catherine Orr Catherine Orr is a second year master's student focusing in visual communication at the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She received her bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary and spent four years as the communications coordinator for the Office of International Education at the University of Richmond. While she enjoys nearly all aspects of visual communication, she is most drawn to telling the stories of real people through documentary-style video and photography. Twitter Website
Sarah Riazati Sarah Riazati graduated with a BA in graphic design and editing in May 2011, developing her interests in photojournalism, international affairs, information science, Arabic, advertising and art. She traveled with documentary teams to Haiti, India and Bangladesh, interned in the UNC chancellor's office on a campaign for innovation and led the design of a campus travel magazine. As a senior, she worked as a multimedia journalist for reesenews.org, the journalism school's experimental online newsroom. She also produced a documentary project about the local music scene, which she submitted for undergraduate honors. Twitter Website
Mimi Schiffman Mimi Schiffman is pursuing her Master's Degree at UNC Chapel Hill to learn to better tell the human story using the full pallet of media available to journalists. She pursues her work in the interest of informing people about one another, and moving them to be more actively engaged in their world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Website
Catherine Spangler is a multimedia producer with a special affinity for photography and sound design. She recently produced a short documentary on people who live and work as informal recyclers at one of Mexico City's largest garbage dumps. After studying radio documentary at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2009, she worked as a freelance audio producer based in Seattle, WA. Her work has been broadcast by podcasts and NPR member stations across the country. Catherine is currently earning her M.A. in visual communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Twitter Website
Northwestern 2011
Tavaner Bushman After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in English literature, Tavaner pursued her interest in magazines in Texas Monthly’s advertising department. She left in April 2008 to become the managing editor of Texas Home & Living magazine. Tavaner completed her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism in June 2011. After the Carnegie-Knight News21 fellowship this summer, Tavaner will move back to Austin to pursue her professional interests in storytelling and media strategy.
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Christen Carter Christen is studying interactive publishing at the Medill School of Journalism. She is excited about being a part of journalism during this time of reinvention. She loves using different kinds of media to tell stories in the best way possible. Before she began studying at Medill, she worked at Pixar Animation Studios and Google. She learned a lot from the creative, inspiring people at both of those companies, and she’s happy to now be producing her own creative work. When she graduates, she plans to become a web editor. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Kyle Jahner Kyle will finish his master’s at Medill this fall by participating in the National Security Initiative. At Northwestern he reported on education in Chicago and health care in Washington. His interests are broad, but he has a persistent passion for deep analysis and writing. Kyle was a sportswriter for a year in Santa Barbara after graduating from USC. A St. Louis-native turned nomad, he lived in Singapore for six years before college, and spent two years in Raleigh after leaving California. When not reading, reporting or writing, he has kept in shape playing rugby competitively for the last eight years. Twitter Website
Megan Jonas Megan Jonas is a Masters of Science in Journalism Candidate at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, focusing in Interactive Publishing. Prior to this, she worked for four years at C-SPAN in Washington, D.C., including three years as the White House Producer. During her undergraduate education at Syracuse University, she interned at the CBS affiliate in Denver and for NBC Olympics during the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy. She is interested in the way that new technologies are bringing news and information to a wider audience, and in working to convey stories through non-text media. Twitter Website
Randy Leonard is an award-wining journalist and photographer from Baltimore who expects to receive a master’s after completing Medill’s D.C. program this fall. With a background as an environmental scientist, he covers public policy and community issues by combining traditional investigative reporting with data analysis techniques such as geographic information system mapping. Twitter LinkedIn
Sara J. Martinez Sara Jean graduated from Marquette University in May 2010 with a B.A. in Journalism and Spanish. During college, she was a Dow Jones News Fund intern at The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., interned with Milwaukee Magazine and spent a summer in Mexico studying her native culture and history. This past summer she was a Pulliam Fellow at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. Native to the South Side of Chicago, Sara is excited to be pursuing a Master of Science in Journalism and studying science reporting close to home at Northwestern University. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Gulnaz Saiyed Gulnaz is working on her masters degree at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. She’s a 2008 graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, with a degree in English and Women’s Studies. For two years prior to enrolling at Medill, she taught eighth grade English/Language Arts in Texas' Rio Grande Valley with Teach for America. As a student, she produced and hosted a radio show about women and girls in New Orleans. She also deejayed for WTUL, Tulane’s radio station. Gulnaz spent a summer as a newsroom intern at WFPL Louisville, an NPR affiliate. She is now, and always will be, a Kentuckian at heart. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Courtney Subramanian Courtney Subramanian, from Darien, Ill., is a graduate student at the Medill School of Journalism who graduated from Miami University with a double major in journalism and history in 2007. After college, Courtney transitioned into public relations and spent almost three years in lifestyle PR. Courtney spent the spring 2011 term reporting for Medill’s Washington bureau covering politics and environment and was selected as a White House Correspondents’ Association scholar in April. She serves as an assistant to the Medill Global Residency program and will spend her global residency at TIME magazine’s London bureau in autumn 2011. Twitter LinkedIn
Andrew Theen Andrew Theen grew up in Medford, Ore., and earned his BA in broadcast and print Journalism at the University of Oregon After graduation, he worked as a radio reporter/producer for NPR's Portland affiliate, covering sports, transportation, and regional and national politics for two years. While pursuing his master's at Northwestern, he has filed stories for NPR, McClatchy newspapers, Military Times, American Journalism Review and United Press International. In addition to the News21 fellowship, he will be a National Security Journalism Initiative Fellow, a joint venture with Medill and the Washington Post, in the fall of 2011. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Joel Withrow After graduating from New York University with a Bachelor's in art history, Joel worked as the visual arts editor for Flavorpill in SoHo. He graduated in 2011 with a Masters of Science from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Joel has also published feature articles in BPM Magazine and The Northwest Indiana Times. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Southern California 2011
Hillel Aron Hillel Aron is a writer living in Echo Park. His work has appeared in the LA Weekly, Huffington Post and Neon Tommy. His piece, "So Many Windmills," a profile of uber-gadfly John Walsh, was a finalist for L.A. Press Club's best online news story of 2009. Born and bred in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from USC film school in 2001. He worked for a time as a video editor, before making his triumphant return to USC to study the burgeoning industry that is journalism. He enjoys playing soccer and eating hamburgers. Have a pleasant day. Twitter Facebook Website
Catherine Cloutier Catherine Cloutier is a Los Angeles-based multimedia journalist. Catherine serves as the Managing Editor for Intersections South LA, a hyperlocal news website in service of the South Los Angeles community. Hailing from a small town in Maine, Catherine received a Bachelor's degree in English from Boston College. She attends the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, where she participated in the 2009-2010 Annenberg Graduate Fellowship program. Catherine is passionate about social justice reporting and has written extensively about urban education and poverty. Twitter Website
Jessica Flores Jessica Flores, a fully funded Annenberg fellow, earned her master's in broadcast journalism from USC. As a grad student, she executive produced USC’s award-winning Annenberg Radio News and tackled local politics for Annenberg TV News. She has worked with the New York Times in Arizona and at CBS News in London. Previously, she worked two years for Google. As an undergrad at Stanford, Flores interned for CNN-Washington and worked at NBC-San Jose. She has been honored with a California Chicano News Media Association Scholarship and was part of news teams awarded by SPJ and LA Press Club. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
John Guenther John is a SoCal native and a graduate student at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC. Currently, John is interning at Southern California Public Radio (KPCC) on their digital media team. He has also spent times as a staff writer for The Daily Breeze newspaper and as a staff reporter and associate news editor at Neon Tommy, the online news site at Annenberg, contributing city hall stories and feature articles. In summer 2010, he interned for the web team of the New Statesman magazine in London. Twitter
Olga Khazan Olga, a second-year online journalism graduate student, has served as special projects editor for NeonTommy.com, the student-run Web site, working on packages examining air pollution, community revitalization and swine flu victims. Olga has interned for Washingtonpost.com, writing an 1,800-word story featured on the home page, and for News24, South Africa's largest news site. Outside of journalism, Olga has served as a program assistant with Physicians for Human Rights. She earned a BA in political science from American University in May 2008. Twitter Website
Sam Osborn Sam Osborn is a multimedia journalist and lifelong Californian, earning a B.A. in history at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and an M.A. in broadcast journalism at USC. Prior to graduate school, Sam worked for Havoc Television in Los Angeles, and later at West Park Pictures in London. In addition to his work as a Carnegie-Knight Fellow with News21, Sam served as the supervising producer of Impact, a television news magazine produced by the University of Southern California. Sam also hosted This Week In Books, a weekly internet television program that covered developments in the publishing industry. Twitter Website
Jessica Porter Jessica Porter has a special interest reporting on politics and social issues. This past summer Jessica interned at Rainbow Circle Films in South Africa. While there she made her first documentary about a young refugee from Zimbabwe. She also received credit on the film "Forgotten Gold" for voice over writing and post-production. She is a reporter and graduate associate for Annenberg Television News. Jessica will be working on a project with News21 reporting on the influence of money into politics. LinkedIn Website
Madeleine Scinto Madeleine Scinto finished her master's in online journalism as an Annenberg Fellow and Dean's Scholar at USC in May 2010. She enjoys working in all mediums and has a passion for politics. She has reported for a London radio station and, in Washington, The Hill newspaper and Cato Institute media department. During her time in Los Angeles, she has been published in the L.A. Times homicide blog and in LA Downtown News. Previously she served in the Peace Corps. Fluent in Spanish, Madeleine has lived in Spain, Argentina and the Dominican Republican. She majored in government at Claremont McKenna College and Spanish at Pitzer College. Twitter Website
Amy Silverstein Amy started out writing music and film reviews for her undergraduate paper at UC Santa Barbara where, in 2009, two articles won first place in the California College Media Awards. After college, she spent a summer covering the Jesse James Hollywood trial for the Santa Barbara Independent. She began graduate school at USC that fall. Her articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times, Jezebel, City Watch, KCET and Neon Tommy. A Neon Tommy story she wrote about competing Christmas tree lots won a second place L.A. Press Club Award in 2010. In her free time she likes biking to the beach and reading. Twitter Website
Piya Sinha-Roy is a print and multimedia journalist based in Los Angeles, California, reporting on news, entertainment, fashion, politics and features. She is a recent MA Journalism graduate from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. Piya is one of USC’s 2011 News21 fellows, reporting on the relationship between money, politics and Hollywood. Born in New York and raised in Surrey, UK, Piya completed her BA in English Literature at the University of Warwick, and has worked at The Guardian newspaper and InStyle Magazine in London and the BBC and NeonTommy.com in Los Angeles. Twitter LinkedIn Website
Syracuse 2011
Jillian Anthony Jillian Anthony is a journalist originally from San Dimas, California. She graduated with a BA in Communication Studies from the University of San Diego. She served as Managing Editor of her college paper, The Vista, and was an editorial intern for San Diego Magazine. She is currently a graduate student in the Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism program at Syracuse University and the Assistant Executive Producer of the student-run website, TheNewsHouse.com. She most enjoys writing about communities and traveling. Twitter
Alicia Atterberry Alicia Atterberry recently graduated with a B.A. in Television-Radio-Film and Economics. During her time at Syracuse University, she served as Director and Editor of CitrusTV Noticias, a student-run, Spanish language news program and edited video content for the State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry. This past summer, Alicia interned at Creablast Picture, a production company in Strasbourg, France where she edited music videos and concert footage. Alicia enjoys good food, art, and anything shot at 24 fps.
Caitlin Dewey Caitlin is a digital journalist and occasional music critic. Her work has appeared in print in The New York Times and Kiplinger's Personal Finance, as well as on the websites of The Washington Post and The Village Voice. Recently, she created an iPad-based magazine called Salt and a crowd-sourced, 48-hour zine called TK, which earned nods from the journalism innovation blog 10,000 Words. Caitlin graduated from Syracuse University in May with B.A.s in magazine journalism, international relations and Spanish. She celebrated with cupcakes. Twitter Website
Katie Friel Originally from Rockville, Maryland, Katie eventually landed in Austin, Texas (via NYC & DC) where she is working towards a Masters in Journalism at the University of Texas. Her work has appeared in various publications including Austinist, Longhorn Life and the website for Texas Monthly. In addition to writing, Katie likes to shoot pictures, edit videos and design infographics. Her heart, however, lies with magazine journalism. She hopes to one day be the editor of Texas Monthly or New York where she can merge her love of good design with great journalism. She attended the Catholic University of America, where she graduated in 2006 with a BA in Media Studies. Twitter Website
Andrew Hida Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Andrew Hida is currently a Master's candidate in multimedia photography at Syracuse University. He graduated in 2005 from the University of Washington with a B.S. in Conservation Ecology and a B.A. in Spanish. Hida has since worked as a freelance documentary photographer and multimedia storyteller. His work has been supported through numerous awards, including those from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, 4Culture, and the Photo Center Northwest (PCNW), as well as exhibited throughout Washington state, most recently at the Wing Luke Asian Museum. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Kuan Luo Kuan is a senior graphic design and writing and rhetoric major in Syracuse University. She is passionate about journalism, technology and design. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, tea-sipping and traveling around the world doing the previous two things. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Christine Mehta hristine Mehta is a Syracuse University graduate with a B.A. in international relations and journalism. At SU, she covered humanitarian, political and international issues in Syracuse, NY, Ecuador, Chile, and South Africa. She was the recipient of the Henry J. Wolff Prize, the AEJMC Prize for best student international multimedia news story, and recognized as the graduating senior "deemed most proficient in journalism." She has written for The Post-Standard, The Stand, Jerk Magazine, The NewsHouse, and English-language news publications such as The Santiago Times in Chile. Christine plans to pursue communications development for non-profits in the developing world. Twitter Website
Shayna Meliker Shayna is a 2011 alumna of Syracuse University, with degrees in newspaper and online journalism and Spanish language, literature and culture. She has held internships with The Virginian-Pilot, The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Examiner and the Newseum, a news museum in Washington, D.C. Shayna served as the news editor of The Daily Orange from October 2008 to May 2009, and received the Newhouse School’s Henry J. Leader Prize for the best senior in newspaper editing. Twitter
Bob Miller Bob Miller is a photographer and multimedia journalist with roots in the deep South. Before returning to graduate school at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Bob covered humanitarian, conflict and human interest stories in Kenya, Sudan, Bolivia, Mexico and the United Kingdom. His work has been recognized by the College Photographer of the Year competition, the International Photography Awards and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace. Specializing in multimedia storytelling for editorial, non-profit and corporate clients, Bob implements a variety of media to give stories their most appropriate voice. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website
Raymond Thompson Raymond Thompson is currently pursing a master's degree in photojournalism at the University of Texas at Austin. He has a bachelor's degree in American Studies from the University of Mary Washington. Before returning to graduate school he worked as a photojournalist for Times Community Newspapers in Northern Virginia. While working as a staff photographer he has won numerous awards from the Virginia Press Association. Twitter Facebook Website
Marina Zarya Born in Russia, raised in Brooklyn, Marina Zarya is a recent graduate with a B.S. in Advertising, with minors in Spanish and Psychology. She managed internet radio station WERW and helped produce radio shows in Syracuse on WRVO & WAER, NPR stations. She is also a passionate photographer, designer, and writer. Twitter LinkedIn
The nation's leading journalism schools come together in this unique program to experiment with new forms of in-depth and investigative reporting.
Fellows travel the country to report on critical issues facing our changing nation and then find innovative ways to tell those stories.