Featured Profile

Alfredo Torres (’23) recently premiered his short documentary thesis film “jardines” at the 50th Telluride Film Festival as part of the Filmmakers of Tomorrow program.  The program’s Student Prints section, now in its 30th year, celebrates the best student-produced short films from around the globe. The selected films were curated by Gregory Nava (“Selena,” “El…

Wesaam Al-Badry (’20) and Clara Mokri (’21) are among the winners of the 2023 Creator Labs Photo Fund, an initiative providing financial support to encourage artists at formative moments in their careers. Started in 2021 and made possible by Google Devices and Services in partnership with Aperture magazine, the second season of the Creator Labs…

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…

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,…

Berkeley Journalism is proud to announce it has hired the pioneering documentary filmmaker, journalist and media industry trailblazer Jason Spingarn-Koff to lead an effort to reinvent journalism about climate change. After a monthslong, nationwide search, the school selected Spingarn-Koff as the new professor of journalism and Knight Chair of Climate Journalism. Knight Chairs in Journalism…

The work of six alumni was honored in the 2023 Pulitzer Prizes, in the Breaking News, International Reporting, Investigative Reporting and Public Service categories, Columbia University announced this month. Serginho Roosblad (‘18), video producer for the Associated Press, was on the team that won the prize for Public Service for “Courageous reporting from the besieged…

Lucas Waldron (‘17) describes his job as “finding ways to explain complicated concepts using visuals.” That includes video, motion graphics, mapping and data visualization. Waldron (‘17) joined ProPublica right after graduating from Berkeley’s Journalism School. With degrees in Politics and Film Studies at the University of San Francisco, he had little professional experience. In his…

In January, over a dozen alumni joined industry guests and hosts Professor Jennifer Redfearn, Jigar Mehta (’05), Duc Pham (BS ’02) and alumni regent Amanda Pouchot at the annual “Cal @ Sundance” event in Park City, Utah. The campus conclave celebrates the community of Berkeley alumni involved in the prestigious festival. Berkeley Journalism’s rich history…

Our latest alumni profile features Lisa Pickoff-White, whose dedication and involvement with Berkeley Journalism continues more than a decade after she graduated. Her lasting imprint on the school is seen through the many initiatives at KQED that involve Berkeley Journalism students. She is a frequent guest speaker, sharing wisdom with students about her work and…