On this episode, we salute and interview Donnell Suggs, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Voice, which is the longest running and only Black newspaper in Atlanta.

 Donnell has covered business, features, real estate, religion, and sports during his time in the industry. He’s a native of Brooklyn N.Y.

 He talked about his time as a New York City police officer and why he decided he wanted to become a full-time journalist. He explained why he loved print journalism so much, what makes The Atlanta Voice an important newspaper in 2022, and how he tries to make the paper’s coverage distinct.

 Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Wesley Early, a reporter for Alaska Public Media, who covers city government and Anchorage life.

 Wesley talked about his career, which has taken him through both large and small markers in Alaska, and the day-to-day duties of the job. He also explained how being Black in a state with a very small Black population plays a role in how he does his job. And he cleared up some misconceptions that media members in the lower 48 states have about his state.

 Wesley’s salute: KYUK, Bethel, Alaska

Wesley’s Twitter: @wesley_early

 Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Jane Wolfe. Jane is a longtime journalist who has written 3 biographies, the most recent of which is titled Burl, Journalism Giant and Medical Trailblazer. It’s about Burl Osborne, a prominent journalist and newspaper publisher who had a distinguished career at the Associated Press and The Dallas Morning News.

Jane talked about her career, about Burl’s life, and the process of writing a biographies – which parts she likes and which parts she doesn’t like.

Jane’s salute: University of Texas-Austin School of Journalism and Media

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Ben Welsh, the visiting senior data journalist at Stanford University who is working on the project, Big Local News. He’s also been a longtime data journalism editor at the Los Angeles Times.

Ben talked about his journalism origin story, the different projects he’s worked on, how Big Local News is helping to make data journalism accessible to smaller media outlets, and the importance of the field of data journalism.

Ben’s Twitter

Details on Ben’s work at Stanford

Studs Terkel podcast

Homepages.news

Ben’s salute: The Las Vegas Review Journal

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we salute John Vitti. John is a man of many skills. He’s been a layout, copy, and online editor/multi-platform editor for the sports department of the Boston Globe for 23 years. He’s also a high school journalism teacher, an elementary school newspaper advisor, and the founder of a journalism program for kids, Headliners in Education.

John talked with Mark Simon about all of those roles as well as the value of teaching journalism concepts to kids, even if they don’t want to become journalists.

John’s salutes

Press Pass NYC

Journalistic Learning Initiative (Ed Madison, its founder, is a past guest)

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we salute and interview Alexis Terrazas.

He’s the editor in chief of El Tecolote (The Owl), a bilingual Latino newspaper that has served the San Francisco Bay Area Latino community since 1970. Prior to that, he wrote for Patch and the San Francisco Examiner. 

Alexis shared his journalism origin story, explained the types of stories that El Tecolote covered, and detailed why he’s so passionate about his job and the newspaper’s mission.

El Tecolote’s Twitter account

Alexis’s salute: Renaissance Journalism

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On today’s episode, we salute Katie Hawkins-Gaar.

 Katie is a freelance writer and the founder of Digital Women Leaders, a mentoring program for women and non-binary people working in news who are looking for advice from someone who understands their experience. It’s a free program with dozens of coaches available for a 30-minute session.

Katie also edits the newsletter, My Sweet Dumb Brain, a newsletter about facing the ups and downs of life, all while being kind to yourself.

Katie talked about her journalism experience, how the Digital Women Leaders program works and the type of advice mentees receive, and gave examples of topics that she addresses in her newsletter, which often focuses on mental health.

Katie’s salute: Sahan Journal

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we’re joined by Ahmed Ahmed. Ahmed was named the Nevada Student Journalist of the Year – by the Journalism Education Association. He spent 3 years on the staff of the Southwest Shadow at Southwest Career and Technical Academy. And he’s now headed to the University of Chicago to study political science.

Ahmed talked about his journalism origin story, why opinion writing is so important to him, who his greatest influences are, and what his future ambitions are.

 Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

Links

 Ahmed’s Salute: Youth Journalism International

 Ahmed’s work for the Shadow

Ahmed’s website and portfolio

On this episode, we’re joined by Anushka De. Anushka is a freshman from Cupertino California studying computer science at Stanford University.

This past year, Anushka was named the Journalism Education Association Student Journalist of the Year and the National Scholastic Press Association’s Writer of the Year.

 Anushka talked about her initial fear of being a journalist and how she overcame it along with the great work she did on El Estoque, the student publication of Monta Vista High School. She discussed the high standards the journalism program at her school has and how students strive to fulfill them. And she shared her future goals.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod. 

Anushka's salutes:

High school newspapers, including the Berkley High Jacket, the Lynbrook Epic, and the Cupertino Prospector

LINKS

Anuskha’s portfolio (including stories referenced within interview)

On this episode, we salute Erin Perry, the managing editor of Outlier Media.

 Outlier Media is a Detroit-based service journalism organization that identifies, reports, and delivers valuable information to empower residents to hold landlords, municipal government, and elected officials accountable for longstanding problems.

They do this with text messaging, newsletters, and a section of OutlierMedia.org

Erin talked about her origin story and career path. She shared examples of the kinds of stories that Outlier covers and explained why it’s so needed in Detroit.

She also shared her passion for journalism education and the steps needed to make journalism an appealing profession for Black and Latino students.

Erin’s salute: Capital B, a non-profit for Black audiences.

 Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at [email protected], visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.