These 12 Cronkite students were chosen as summer fellows for the Carnegie-Knight News21 initiative.
Twelve students from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication have been selected as summer fellows for the Carnegie-Knight News21 initiative, a national investigative reporting project.
The ASU students will join top journalism students from 15 other universities across the country to produce an in-depth, multimedia report on the juvenile justice system in America.
The team of student journalists will investigate disparities in sentencing and jail time, conditions of juvenile detention facilities and the impact on families, communities and victims. The stories will be published as a multimedia project online and will be shared with industry publishing partners across the country. Previous investigations have been published by major news organizations, including The Washington Post, NBC News, the Center for Public Integrity and USA Today, as well as many nonprofit news websites.
Headquartered at the Cronkite School, News21 was established a decade ago by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to demonstrate that college journalism students can produce innovative, in-depth multimedia projects on a national scale. The initiative is led by News21 Executive Editor Jacquee Petchel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and professor of practice at the Cronkite School.
Previous News21 projects have included investigations into voting rights, post-9/11 veterans, guns in America and drinking water safety, among other topics. The projects have won numerous awards, including five EPPY Awards from Editor & Publisher magazine, a host of honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and recognition from the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of collegiate journalism.
“State of Emergency,” the 2019 News21 project, earned the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award this month and an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) award in April.
“Hate in America,” the 2018 News21 project, also earned a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provides core support for the News21 program, and ASU student fellowships are funded by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Buffett Foundation, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and The Arizona Republic/USA Today.
The ASU fellows, their hometowns and their named fellowships are:
Jose Castañeda — Phoenix, Arizona; Ethics and Excellence Fellow
Kelsey Collesi — Shaker Heights, Ohio; Buffett Fellow
Daja Henry — New Orleans, Louisiana; Reynolds Fellow
Delia Johnson — Phoenix, Arizona; Reynolds Fellow
Chloe Jones — Tempe, Arizona; Reynolds/Howard Fellow
Franco La Tona — West Bend, Wisconsin; Don Bolles Fellow
Haillie Parker — San Diego, California; Ethics and Excellence Fellow
Kimberly Rapanut — Mesa, Arizona; Buffett Fellow
Jill Ryan — Bear, Delaware; Ethics and Excellence/Howard Fellow
Calah Schlabach — St. Michaels, Arizona; Buffett Fellow
Katherine Sypher — Orono, Maine; Reynolds Fellow
Anthony Wallace — Gilbert, Arizona; Reynolds Fellow
They are joined by student fellows from Butler University, DePauw University, Elon University, Kent State University, Morgan State University, University of British Columbia, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Iowa, University of Illinois, University of Mississippi, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, St. Bonaventure University and Syracuse University.