Jennifer Redfearn named finalist in News & Documentary Emmy Awards

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Professor Jennifer Redfearn’s film “Apart” — a powerful documentary that examines the war on drugs through the lens of three mothers rebuilding their lives after years of incarceration — has been named a finalist for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary in the 44th News and Documentary Emmy Awards. “Apart” premiered on PBS’ “Independent Lens” in…

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Berkeley Journalism announces third cohort of first-generation college student fellows

Three people are standing outdoors, posing and smiling at the camera. They are close together under a tree, with green foliage in the background. The person on the left has shoulder-length hair, the person in the middle has straight hair, and the person on the right, celebrating their journalism scholarship, has short braided hair.

Geeta Anand, dean of Berkeley Journalism, today announced the 2023-2024 cohort of Dean’s Fellows, a leadership development initiative that removes barriers to entering the field by fully funding the education of first-generation college students. The initiative, which began in 2021 through private philanthropy, counters the widespread access disparity in newsrooms by providing guaranteed funding for…

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MJ Johnson and Meruyert Shalbayeva honored in the Student Academy Awards

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The thesis films of two Class of 2023 graduates have been recognized as among the best in the world by the jury for the 50th Student Academy Awards. MJ Johnson is among the seven documentary finalists and Meruyert “Mika” Shalbayeva was amongst 17 semifinalists by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Johnson, a…

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California Local News Fellowship Announces Inaugural Cohort

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Berkeley, CA – Geeta Anand, dean of Berkeley Journalism, today announced the inaugural cohort of the California Local News Fellowship program, a path-breaking initiative funded by the people of California and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year. The program will support community news and information needs throughout California by providing two-year fellowships…

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Acclaimed filmmaker Jennifer Redfearn to receive 2023 Philomathia Prize

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Jennifer Redfearn, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and associate professor and director of the documentary program at Berkeley Journalism, has been selected to receive the Philomathia Prize for 2023. The Philomathia Prize is presented annually to one early-career Berkeley faculty member from any discipline who demonstrates great distinction and promise in their academic field. Now in its…

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Berkeley Journalism documentary thesis film acquired by L.A. Times Short Docs

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L.A. Times Short Docs, a platform for innovative short documentaries, is launching a special series in association with Berkeley Journalism as part of its second season. The first film, “Split Jury,” by Linus Unah (‘23) and Buddy Terry (‘23), premiered Aug. 9. The film details how nearly 90 years after Oregon allowed split jury verdicts,…

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Berkeley Journalism announces faculty hire Jennifer LaFleur

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Berkeley Journalism is proud to announce that Jennifer LaFleur, one of the world’s leading data journalists, data editors and teachers of data journalists, has joined the school’s prestigious faculty. “Hiring her puts Berkeley Journalism on the map as the best data journalism school in the country. There is nobody I know of who brings to…

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Berkeley Journalism mourns death of Emeritus Professor Andrew Stern

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  The last remaining original faculty member of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Andrew Stern, has died. He was 92. In 1969, the award-winning broadcast journalist was invited to start a new program in long-form broadcast journalism and documentary by founding Dean Edwin Bayley after a career at PBS and ABC News. In…

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State funds development of first-of-its-kind police misconduct database

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California allocated $6.87 million in its 2023-24 budget to UC Berkeley to develop the Police Records Access Project, a first-of-its-kind, state-wide database of police misconduct and use-of-force records. Along with Berkeley’s Institute for Data Science and partners such as Stanford’s data journalism program, the Investigative Reporting Program will collect, curate and make accessible records that…

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