On this episode we're joined by Evan Urquhart. Evan covers anti-transgender propaganda and transgender news issues for Assigned Media (AssignedMedia.org), an organization he founded. He is also the community manager for Slate's comments section and is a freelance writer with many prominent bylines. And he's currently doing a Knight science writing fellowship at MIT.

We interviewed Evan, who is transgender, on Trans Day of Visibility (March 31)

Evan talked about why he started Assigned Media and the kind of stories it covers. He discussed covering news and writing personal essays. He also explained the kinds of things that mainstream media, like the New York Times, gets wrong when covering transgender issues and the kind of stories that are currently getting overlooked, with all the attention given to whether transgender women should play high school and college sports.

Evan's salute: The Trans Journalist Association

Coverage examples:

Stories about the New York Times and its mistakes

https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/you-betrayed-us-azeen-parents-of-trans-youth-reeling-after-speaking-to-the-nyt

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected] 

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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On this episode we're joined by Lizzy Lawrence. Lizzy covers the Food and Drug Administration for STAT News, a subscription-based part of Boston Globe's media newsroom owned by the Boston Globe that covers the frontiers of health and medicine.

As they say- "We take you inside the science labs and hospitals, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms. We dissect crucial discoveries. We examine controversies and puncture hype. We hold individuals and institutions accountable. We introduce you to the power brokers and personalities who are driving a revolution in human health."

Lizzy has been with them for 2 1/2 years and she's been part of stories that have won prominent awards. She's previously covered technology and was editor-in-chief of the University of Michigan's student newspaper. And she's a graduate of my alma mater, Stuyvesant High School in New York City.

Lizzy talked about what it's like to cover both breaking news, like the mass firing of thousands of people at the FDA and bigger enterprise stories, like the team coverage on United Healthcare that won a Polk Award for investigative journalism. She shared the biggest lessons she learned and what she feels she's taken from being a journalist.

Lizzy's salute: The Association of Health Care Journalists

A detailed interview explaining STAT's coverage of United Healthcare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0VJGEv5IGw

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected] 

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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On this episode we're joined by Lola Claire. Lola is a student at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas and the editor in chief of Hilltop Views, the student newspaper there. Lola is also the chair of the Title IX Student Advisory Board at the school.

Lola is from southern Louisiana. She caught my attention because of something she's working on. Hilltop Views has a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network for its mental health reporting and she spoke about that at the College Media Association national convention.

Lola talked about how her love of writing led her to journalism, how her small student staff is able to accomplish a lot, what it's like to be an editor-in-chief, what the newspaper is doing with their solutions journalism initiative, and what it's like to do theatre reviews.

Work examples

Review of Macbeth

https://www.hilltopviewsonline.com/29916/life-and-arts-art/review-mary-moody-northen-theatres-production-of-macbeth-takes-the-crown/

Op-ed about Elon Musk

https://www.hilltopviewsonline.com/26293/viewpoints/opinion-elon-musks-vision-for-uncensored-speech-invites-bigotry-contention/

Example of solutions journalism

https://www.hilltopviewsonline.com/30961/viewpoints/solutions-opinion-new-yorks-solution-to-traffic-deserves-consideration-in-texas/

Lola's salutes: The Austin Chronicle and Hilltop Views adviser Curt Yowell.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected] 

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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On this episode, we're joined by Denise Watson. Denise is an editor at WHRO Public Media in Norfolk, Virginia. For more than 30 years she was an award-winning writer and features and education editor for the Virginian-Pilot. She often writes about race and history.

Additionally, she is a journalist in residence at William & Mary, teaching a masterclass there. And she is a fellow at the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Denise shared many lessons that she applied to her work, including what it means to "vacuum a scene," how to interview people about their past, and how to do research for a story about a prominent historical event, local or otherwise. She also shared what her classes are like at William & Mary and explained why history is so important to her.

Story Links

Story about a woman's search for her Japanese grandfather who never returned from an internment camp during World War II

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r14mRphohLD9AIClzEqy4niITfD-txL43i563D3OYIE/edit?usp=sharing

17 Students Break Through Color Barrier (50th anniversary in Norfolk)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IPT1xhekYGl2SqV5Dm9kSoceCeOjsobGFdBNCPQTtgU/edit?usp=sharing

Denise's salutes: The Maynard Institute, Maria Carrillo, Kris Worrell

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected] 

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

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On this episode, we're joined by Leanne Yoon. Leanne is the co-editor in chief of the Jets Flyover, the student news website of Daegu International School in South Korea, where she's in her junior year.

Leanne also just started writing a column for Nutgraf News, a student journalism newsletter, and she founded High School Press Central, whose goal is to make student journalism accessible to all by connecting high school journalists across the world to share ideas, resources, and practices.

Leanne discussed her diverse living experiences and interests (which include music and public speaking), how she handles her leadership role, challenges related to press freedom limitations, and why she considers it important to leave a legacy.

Interested students can e-mail Leanne at [email protected]

Notable Links

Jets Flyover

http://jetsflyover.com

High School Press Central

https://www.hspresscentral.com/

Her story about a notable fencer

https://jetsflyover.com/15488/features/under-the-mask-of-azul-rivera-a-young-fencers-leap-of-faith/

Her story about high school dropouts

https://jetsflyover.com/16503/features/high-school-dropouts-find-detours-in-purported-dead-ends/

Her co-authored story about deepfakes

https://jetsflyover.com/14471/opinions/unmasking-the-truths-of-stolen-faces/

Leanne's salutes: The staff at Jets Flyover, advisor Jefferson Lipsky, the American School in London, and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected] 

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we're joined by eight students who attended the College Media Association convention a series of mini-interviews that ran 2 to 3 minutes each. The students come from schools in Boston, Virginia, Ohio, and California

In these interviews we talked about some of their early-career highlights, important lessons they learned, and how being a journalist impacted them as a person.

Students interviewed and their salutes:

Maeve Bauer (VCU) – Virginia Walker, Woodgrove High School

Maren Halpin (Suffolk University) – practitioner in residence Charles St. Amand

Ranjini Shank (Ohio University) – Andrea Lewis, director of student media

Ava Jelepis (Ohio) – The staff of The New Political

Joseph Dimino (Suffolk) – Charles St. Ahmand

Michael Najarian  (Suffolk) – former Suffolk Journal editors J.D. Conte and Jamie Taris

Brooklyn Leighton (Suffolk) – Shealagh Sullivan and Sally Rooney

Nikki Yunker (El Camino College) – Gary Kohatsu, Kate McLaughlin, Stephanie Frith

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected] 

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

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On this episode we're joined by Nada Hassanein. Nada is a staff writer and health care reporter for Stateline, covering state policy decisions with a focus on inequities. She's been with them for a year and a half. She has previously covered social issues for the Tallahassee Democrat and was also USA Today's national environmental and health inequities reporter. She is a 2015 graduate of the University of Central Florida.

Stateline provides free coverage of health care, education, the environment, and other issues that shape lives. It was formerly part of The Pew Charitable Trusts and is now part of States Newsroom.

Nada shared how her background as a Middle Eastern North African immigrant influenced her path into journalism and her interest in representing diverse communities. She shared impactful stories such as interviewing Syrian refugee families and a comprehensive series on health deserts affecting minority mothers. She also talked about her writing process, how she gets impactful quotes, and her commitment to holding power accountable.

Nada's salute: Her colleagues at Stateline and also CPJ (The Committee to Protect Journalists)

Work examples

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/03/09/grateful-but-grieving-syrian-refugee-family-grapples-uprooting/99227598/

https://mainemorningstar.com/2024/04/22/census-change-will-lead-to-more-data-on-health-of-middle-eastern-north-african-people-in-us/

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/health/2022/08/11/maternal-health-care-disparities-people-of-color-rural-america/10086706002/

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/health/2022/08/11/rural-native-americans-suffer-lack-maternal-health-care-access/10084897002/

Our Interview with Sarah Spicer, CPJ

https://open.spotify.com/episode/50jyuAPi3oIUhpkQ4NyzQh?autoplay=true

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected]

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

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It's Scholastic Journalism Week - On this episode we're joined by Del Ellerton. Del is a journalism teacher at Midtown High School, formerly Grady High School, in Atlanta, where he's also the school's track and field coach (he previously coached football too) for a school that has won a bunch of city and region championships.

Del is a Mississippi native whose experience includes 10 years as a journalist at places including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Bloomberg News and 22 years as a teacher. He's advised student media since 2008. Del is a grad of Grady himself as well as the University of Georgia College of Business with a masters in journalism from Columbia.

Del talked about becoming a teacher, how he teaches his classes, balancing teaching and coaching, and the stories his students report on.

Read the work of Del's students in The Southerner

https://thesoutherneronline.com/

Del's salutes:

William Raspberry, Byron Pitts, Robin Roberts, John Blake, Monica Kaufman Pearson, and Max Robinson

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected]

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

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In this episode, we're joined by Damaso Reyes. Damaso is both the executive and investigative editor at New York Amsterdam News, one of the oldest Black weeklies in the United States.

Damaso has nearly 30 years of experience in journalism. Last year, he won the National Association of Black Journalists Ida B Wells Award. That's given to someone providing distinguished leadership in increasing access and opportunities for Black journalists and improving the coverage of communities of color in American media.

Damaso discussed his early newspaper influences from growing up in Brooklyn, particularly in how he felt his neighborhood was not covered fairly. He shared his interest and history with photojournalism and international news coverage.

He also explained the formation of Amsterdam News' investigative unit, Blacklight, and talked about series he'd worked on related to the aftermath of gun violence and also to bail reform. He spoke about the challenges of covering the city and his desire to affect change.

Damaso's salute: Ida B. Wells and the NABJ.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected]

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In this episode, we are joined by Jada Vassar, Human Resources Manager for the State News at Michigan State University and host of the award-winning podcast 'All Shades of Chocolate'.

Jada discussed her journey into journalism, the impact of her family and upbringing in Detroit, and her various roles at the State News, with an emphasis on her work in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and her current role, which she created. She also shared her experiences with the New York Times Student Corps, her internship at Planet Detroit, and her aspirations in journalism.

Jada highlighted the importance of representation and advocacy for marginalized communities and detailed her efforts to foster diversity and support within her newsroom.

Jada's salutes: Outlier Media, SaMya Overall, and Ida B. Wells 

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected]

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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