On this episode, we’re joined by Lomi Kriel and Lexi Churchill.

They are 2 reporters on the team of journalists that just won The Collier Prize, a prestigious award given by The Collier Companies and The University of Florida for investigative journalism and political reporting specific to state governments.

The award was given for coverage on reporting on the actions and lack of actions by law enforcement that were responding to a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that resulted in 21 deaths.

This team of journalists encompasses reporters from Pro Publica, The Texas Tribune, and PBS’ documentary series, Frontline. Lomi and Lexi are 2 of many who worked on this. They work jointly for ProPublica and the Tribune.

The stories we talk about are

“Someone Tell Me What To Do,” which describes the police response to the shooting in-depth.

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/05/uvalde-officer-student-trainings-mass-shootings/

“Reports Analyzing the Police Response To A Mass Shooting Can Leave Unanswered Questions – If They’re Released At All”

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/police-reponse-mass-shooting-reports-questions/

Lomi and Lexi talked about the 2.5 years of work that has gone into their reporting, explaining both their findings and the challenges they faced in their reporting.

They described the collaborative effort, the databases they created, the records requests they filed, and the police interviews and body camera footage they obtained and watched. And they shared the empathy needed to cover a story of this magnitude.

They jointly salute: The entire staff of the Uvalde Leader-News

If you wish to watch the documentary, Inside the Uvalde Response, click here.

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode we’re joined by Chatwan Mongkol.

Chatwan is the editor and reporter for The Nutgraf, a newsletter that covers student journalism. He’s also a graduate student at The New School going for his masters degree in Media Management. Chatwan is a 2022 grad of Quinnipiac University.

You can find the newsletter at nutgrafnews.substack.com or bit.ly/thenutgraf

Chatwan talked about his journalism path (he was born in Bangkok, Thailand), his brief career as a newspaper reporter, and the types of stories in the newsletter. He also spoke about a certificate program for journalism entrepreneurs at CUNY-Newmark School that he’s participating in.

Newsletter examples

Student journalists in states where DE&I offices are being eliminated

Students covering school shootings

Lesser-known student newspapers that made an impact

Chatwan’s salutes: College newspapers at Quinnipiac, Michigan State, and Michigan

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we’re joined by Rebecca Worby. Rebecca is the editorial director for Reasons to Be Cheerful.

Reasons to Be Cheerful is a non-profit website and newsletter founded by the musician and artist David Byrne. And it is what it says it is- reporting on news that should make you feel good. Many of these reasons to be cheerful come in the form of smart, proven, replicable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Their newsletter has 135,000 subscribers and the stories in it literally span the globe.

 Rebecca talked about her journalism path, which includes getting a masters degree in creative non-fiction, and time as an editor of travel guides. She explained what makes a story appropriate for Reasons To Be Cheerful and provided examples of the kinds of stories they like.

 1)Make America Rake Again – A story about trying to wean people off gas-powered leaf blowers

2) One from Vilnius, Lithuania – about “Befriend Vilnius” a program that provides mentorship to Ukranian migrants.

3) How student journalists are stepping up to fill news deserts

4) Unfamiliar fish helping fight food insecurity

And we discussed a piece she wrote for Lithub.com, linking together several crimes – vandalism in national parks, the stealing of Native American artifacts on public lands, and dismantled sculptures.

 Rebecca's salutes: Hellgate and High Country News

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we’re joined by Jay Boller. Jay is co-owner and editor of Racket. RacketMN.com is a writer-owned, reader-funded alternative journalism source for news, arts, and culture in Minneapolis. He has previously worked for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and City Pages. Racket was founded in August 2021.

Jay talked about his journalism origin story and Racket’s origin story. He shared examples of his work, including pieces on a day at a megachurch’s moneymaking event, potential environmental pollution near Lake Superior, the closing of a popular McDonald’s, and the troubles of Minneapolis Public Radio.

Jay also explained how starting a writer-owned, reader-funded journalism business is challenging and not necessarily for everyone.

Jay’s salute: Minnesota Reformer

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we’re joined by Itto Outini. Itto and her husband Mekiya run the website, The Datekeepers. This online platform operates under the idea that stories move mountains and that we need to see better stories about humanity and people overcoming extraordinary odds to make contributions to the world.

I should note that Itto is blind. She has a degree in applied linguistics from Mohamed V University in Rabat Morocco and a masters in journalism and strategic media from the University of Arkansas. She is writing a book, Blindness is the Light of My Life. Her backstory is remarkable.

Itto talked about her origin story and some of the notable stories she’s written, like one about a blind cricketer and another about how immigrants have to deal with remittances for family and friends. She also shared how some people are more willing to open up to her because of her being blind and how she comes up with story ideas.

Itto’s salute: Nicholas Kristof

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we’re joined by Shi En Kim PHD. Kim (she goes by her last name) is a freelance science writer who was just awarded a Pulitzer Center fellowship to cover a health and science story in Brazil.

Kim has written for many publications including Scientific American and National Geographic. She often covers new research and emerging trends in sciences, tech, the environment, and health and medicine.

 Kim was born in Malaysia. She is a graduate of Cal Tech who got her doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Chicago.

 She talked about her non-traditional path to journalism (“One long overcorrection …”), the process by which she comes up with story ideas and reports on stories, how being a journalist has impacted her life, and a new journalism collective project she’s working on, Sequencer.

 Notable links

- Article on precision cancer drugs and access to them

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/precision-cancer-drugs-glitter-with-promise-if-you-can-get-them/ 

- Article on the world’s smelliest flower

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/cultivating-the-worlds-largest-stinkiest-flower-is-no-small-task 

- Article on pesticides and the link to childhood chancer in Brazil

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/study-links-pesticides-to-child-cancer-deaths-in-brazilian-amazon-cerrado/

- Sequencer

https://www.sequencermag.com/welcome-to-sequencer/

Kim’s salutes

- The Open Notebook

- Jane C Hu

- Brent Crane

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this special episode, we talk to a diverse group of journalists at the College Media Association Spring Convention in Manhattan. They speak about their journalism origin stories and their most memorable journalism experiences.

In this episode, you’ll hear from CMA president and University of Alabama-Birmingham student media advisor Jackie Alexander (1:10), Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Beatrice Forman (11:27), and 7 college student journalists ranging in age from teenager to 50s: JD Delcastillo (Florida Atlantic, starts at 20:48), Ashley Atkins (Monroe County Community College, 24:34), Audrey Gavagan (Rochester Institute of Technology, 30:02), Jacquelyn Reaves (Ithaca College, 33:44), Paul Czarnecki (University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, 38:36), Megan Martinez (Capital University, 43:01), and Sagel Gurreh (Capital University, 47:00)

Journalism Salutes

Jackie Alexander: All student journalists, Center for Community News

Beatrice Forman: Hell Gate, Katie Way

JD Delcastillo: The Athletic, ESPN West Palm Beach

Ashley Atkins: Matthew Bird-Meyer, advisor, The Agora

Audrey Gavagan: Pro Publica

Jacquelyn Reaves: The Ithacan

Paul Czarnecki: Laura Austin Eurich, ESPN, Annika Schmidt

Megan Martinez: Adrian Suppes, editor-in-chief, Capital University Chimes

Sagel Gurreh: Motas Azaiza, Palestinian photojournalist\

Notable Quotes

“It's made me more curious about things I wouldn't be curious about.”

“In these times, it's so important to be on the right side of history and truth and showing what is happening.”

"That she got tears in her eyes from reading her own story that I wrote made me feel really good.”

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we’re joined by Erin Reed. Erin is an independent journalist. She covers transgender issues and anti-transgender legislation for her newsletter, Erin in the Morning, available on Substack. She also does video pieces on Instagram and TikTok. Erin is transgender and uses the pronouns she/her.

Erin explained her entry into journalism, what it’s like to cover and track anti-transgender legislation across the country. She told us about the stories she’s most proud of, ranging from a rebuttal of an erroneous New York Times piece that got more than 4 million pageviews to a personal story about her engagement to Montana state representative Zooey Zephyr (who is also transgender. And she shared the names of other people doing a good job covering transgender issues.

Erin’s salutes: Evan Urquhart of Assigned Media and Karleigh Webb of Outsports, as well as the Trans Journalists 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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode we’re joined by Amir Vera. Amir is a breaking news editor at CNN and the vice-president of digital at the National Association of Black Journalists.

Amir talked about his journalism origin story and his early days living in different parts of the world. He shared the lessons he learned from his college days at VCU and working for two daily newspapers – The Progress-Index and The Virginian Pilot. He explained his roles at CNN, first as a news writer and now as an editor, taking big stories and helping make them easily readable for CNN’s audience.

Amir also discussed his work with the NABJ, the organization’s goals for the upcoming year, specifically as relates to advocacy and to helping journalists who were recently laid off. And he talked about what an NABJ convention is like.

Amir’s salute: Hyperlocal journalists, like those at The Progress-Index in Petersburg, Virginia.

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.

Subscribe to our newsletter- journalismsalute.substack.com