Prestigious Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting awarded to Berkeley Journalism alums for IRP/SF Chronicle collaboration

Two women wearing dresses stand next to an American flag holding their Goldsmith Award in front of a bright blue background.

Alums Katey Rusch (’20) and Casey Smith (’20), have won the 2025 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for “Right to Remain Secret,” the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government announced in an awards ceremony today. The winning two-part investigative series, a collaboration between UC Berkeley’s Investigative…

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Berkeley Journalism goes to IRE’s NICAR conference and comes home with awards, accolades, and new insights on data journalism

Graduate student with dark bobbed hair wears a light blue cardigan over a white tank top as she types on a laptop.

Berkeley Journalism faculty members, students and alums recently convened in Minneapolis for IRE’s annual data journalism conference NICAR, where members of our community took home two of the three prizes that recognize the best use of social science research methods in journalism. Professor Jennifer LaFleur, who leads Berkeley Journalism’s data reporting, was part of the…

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Mastercard Foundation Scholars thrive at UC Berkeley Journalism

Four graduate students, one woman and three men, stand next to oneanother smiling in front of a brown shingled building.

Four gifted first-year students — Daniel Ekonde of Cameroon, James Mawien Manyuol of South Sudan, Victor Ochieng of Kenya and Jennifer Ugwa of Nigeria — are this year’s Mastercard Foundation Scholars at UC Berkeley Journalism, part of a campuswide program in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation that covers the educational costs of students seeking master’s…

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North Gate Update: February 2025

Narrative Alumni Reunion Details Announced Did you focus on print, long-form, or narrative journalism at Berkeley Journalism? This year’s alumni reunion is designed for you! Scheduled for March 15 at North Gate Hall, the day is aimed at both working journalists and those who have moved on to a new field. It kicks off with…

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North Gate Update: Five Questions for Tasneem Raja (’10)

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Tasneem Raja (‘10) is the Editor-in-Chief of The Oaklandside, a nonprofit, digital newsroom covering Oakland, Calif., where she lives with her family. Founded in March 2020, the newsroom’s mission is to “amplify community voices, share the power of real information, and investigate systems, not just symptoms.” Over her career, Raja co-founded the nonprofit local news…

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North Gate Update: Five Questions for Ilana DeBare

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Ilana DeBare (‘87) worked as a reporter at the Sacramento Bee and San Francisco Chronicle for about 20 years, then as communications director for an environmental nonprofit. In 2018 she decided to work full-time on her first novel, Shaken Loose, which came out in 2023. Publisher’s Weekly said, “DeBare leavens this fast-paced and often brutal…

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Selden Ring Award goes to alums Rusch and Smith who — with the IRP and SF Chronicle — expose system for concealing police misconduct

Headshots of two women reporters side by side.

“Right to Remain Secret” — a two-part story about a secret system that has concealed misconduct by California law enforcement officers for decades — by UC Berkeley Journalism alums Katey Rusch (’20) and Casey Smith (’20) and published in the San Francisco Chronicle, has won the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, USC’s Annenberg School…

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Berkeley Journalism Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2025

North Gate Hall building surrounded by fall trees.

  Dear Berkeley Journalism Community, Our hearts go out to you and yours in the Los Angeles-area who have been contending with the devastating fires and aftermath. And thanks to all of the devoted journalists who are covering this ongoing crisis. At a time of turmoil in our natural and political worlds, it feels more…

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