Greetings, Berkeley J-School alums. We’ve got lots of great stuff for you in our spring newsletter, from an interview with Andra Cernavskis (’15) about pivoting to First Amendment law to some upcoming events you won’t want to miss. Plus, there’s still time to nominate someone for one of the new J-School alumni awards. Let’s get to it!
— The crew at the Berkeley Journalism Volunteer Advisory Committee
LAST CALL FOR ALUMNI AWARDS NOMINATIONS
The deadline for the J-School’s new Distinguished Alumni Awards is coming up fast, but you can still nominate someone – even yourself! – in these four categories: Alum of the Year, Recent Graduate, International Alum and Volunteer Service. The deadline is May 1, there’s a $1,000 honorarium for each award and anyone who graduated with a Bachelor’s or Master’s of Journalism degree is eligible. Winners will be announced this fall.
For deadlines, program rules and information, visit our Alumni Awards page.
AN AWARDING SEASON
From left to right: Dan Krauss (’04), Bo Kovitz (’19), Traci A. Curry (’05), Emily Thomas (’18), Jeffrey Plunkett (’05), Lucas Guilkey (’19), JoeBill Muñoz (’19), Bill Whitaker (’78/’16) and Tommy Nguyen (’05).
This just may be a record. Berkeley J-School alums have received an astonishing 40 nominations in the News & Documentary Emmy Awards this year, with 25 of them going to National Geographic’s “Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller.” Led by showrunner Jeffrey Plunkett (’05), the show is nominated for Outstanding Hard News Report and Outstanding Investigative Coverage, among other categories.
Bo Kovitz (’19) and Tommy Nguyen (’05) have five nominations for their Netflix documentary series, “Turning Point: The Vietnam War,” including Best Documentary and Outstanding Historical Documentary.
Traci A. Curry (’05) received four nominations — including Best Documentary — for “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” on National Geographic. Pete Nicks (’99) was an executive producer.
And “The Strike,” produced by JoeBill Muñoz (’19) and Lucas Guilkey (’19), got three nominations, including Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary. A slew of students in the Investigative Reporting Program helped with research, development, cinematography and sound on this doc about a massive prison hunger strike.
Other nominees include: Bill Whitaker (’78/’16) of “60 Minutes,” for Outstanding Extended Breaking News Coverage and Outstanding Continuing Coverage for his stories about California’s wildfires; Dan Krauss (’04) and Emily Thomas (’18) for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary for “Bodyguard of Lies,” an exposé of government deception during the Afghanistan war and Director Emily Taguchi (’06) who received two nominations: for Outstanding Nature Documentary and Outstanding Music Composition: Documentary for “The Last Rhinos: A New Hope“, about a global effort to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. With only two surviving females, a team of scientists races to create the world’s first surrogate rhino pregnancy.
The winners will be announced May 27 (news) and May 28 (documentaries) in ceremonies at New York’s Lincoln Center. More details here.
The Peabody Award nominees from top left: Shaina Shealy (’16), Lucas Guilkey (’19), JoeBill Muñoz (’19), Traci A. Curry (’05), Catherine Winter (’87), Anna Sussman (’05), Nancy Lopez (’11) and Jeffrey Plunkett (’05).
“A Tiny Plot,” led by Shaina Shealy (’16) and Anna Sussman (’05) was up for Best Radio/Podcast in the Peabody Awards. “The Strike,” “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time,” and “Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller” also received major nods. Read about the nominees and their important work here.
On Monday, May 4, keep an eye on your news feeds. That’s when the Pulitzer Prizes are scheduled to be announced. Last year, a number of J-School alums were honored as winners or finalists. For more on our winners through the years, see the new Awards and Honors page on the school’s website.
Brett Murphy (‘16) of ProPublica and Nick Miroff (‘06) of The Atlantic were two of the fifteen journalists awarded George Polk Awards.
We’d also like to extend huge congratulations to Brett Murphy (’16) of ProPublica and Nick Miroff (’06) of The Atlantic, who both recently received prestigious George Polk Awards. Along with his colleague Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Murphy won the international reporting category for “The End of Aid,” a series that investigated the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This was his third Polk Award. Miroff won the immigration reporting award for his impressive coverage of the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
CalMatters investigative reporters Robert Lewis (’08) and Lauren Hepler (‘18).
And finally, a big shoutout to CalMatters investigative reporters Robert Lewis (’08) and Lauren Hepler (’18) for winning 2nd place in the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, but more importantly, for having such a big impact on traffic safety. Their series “License to Kill” showed that although the California DMV has the power to investigate drivers who cause fatal crashes, it rarely does – with tragic results. Their reporting has led to an astonishing 16 bills being introduced in the state legislature, license suspensions or revocations for nearly 200 drivers who killed someone, and new DMV reporting requirements for vehicular manslaughter in more than 30 counties.
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH ANDRA CERNAVSKIS
Andra Cernavskis
Andra Cernavskis (’15) is a journalist-turned-student about to graduate from UC Berkeley Law, 11 years after earning her Master of Journalism degree at North Gate Hall. After J-School, she helped translate complex scientific ideas into social media videos and worked at pre-Elon Musk Twitter, flagging misinformation for 330 million monthly active users. She speaks with Greta Mart (’15) about having an open mind when it comes to working in journalism, her decision to pivot to law and why someday she could be representing working journalists in fighting for their First Amendment rights.
Read the full interview.
JOBS, JOBS, AND MORE JOBS
The J-School’s new jobs board continues to attract a number of high-quality listings. Recent opportunities include positions at NPR, Bloomberg, USA Today, LookOut Santa Cruz, Mission Local, IGN, WSJ Pro, Variety and various Southern California TV stations. Also, the Center for Investigative Reporting is hiring four Ben Bagdikian fellows.
See who’s hiring.
Want to post a job? Email: journalismjobs@lists.berkeley.edu.
UPCOMING ALUMNI MEETUPS & REUNIONS
Interested in hosting an alumni event in your area? Please reach out to Lia Swindle, Alumni Engagement, who can help support your event.
May 30: 20-ish Year Reunion
Class of 2005 and 2006
Join fellow alums for a special reunion afternoon filled with connection, nostalgia and plenty of fun. A few faculty plan to attend too.
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2026
Time: 3 pm – 6 pm
Venue: North Gate Hall
RSVP
Special thanks to Ling Liu (’05) and Emilie Raguso (’05) for spearheading this gathering.
October 30: Save the Date
10-ish Year Reunion
Class of 2015 and 2016
Calling all graduates from the Class of 2015 and 2016: This October we’ll be celebrating your 10-ish year reunion during Homecoming weekend!
Keep an eye on your inbox for more details and the RSVP link in the coming months!
Special thanks to Romin Lee Johnson (’16), Bonnie Chan (’16) and Courtney Quirin (’15) for coming together to plan this milestone event.
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS
April 25: Daily Cal Hall of Fame
Three UC Berkeley Journalism alums, two of whom serve on the school’s advisory board, will be inducted into The Daily Californian’s Hall of Fame. David Corvo (’72), a longtime television journalist who spent the last two decades as the senior executive producer of Primetime News for NBC News, is among the six inductees. Tamara Keith (’01), NPR’s Senior White House Correspondent, who has been on the beat through three presidents and four presidencies, is the 2026 Daily Californian Alumnus of the Year. And Emilie Raguso (’06) will be honored as the 2026 Friend of the Daily Cal. After stints at Berkeleyside and Albany Patch, she founded The Berkeley Scanner in 2022, where she’s been providing in-depth coverage of public safety and policing in Berkeley as editor in chief. Buy tickets here.
June 1: The State of Journalism in 2026
J-School Dean Michael D. Bolden, San Francisco Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz and Trust Project Chief Executive Sally Lehrman will offer their insights on the state of the media in a panel discussion beginning at 7:30 pm at the Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. in Berkeley. Michael Gray (’78) will be moderating the discussion. To attend, register via the club website. Tickets here.
EVENT RECAPS
Bay Area Meetup at KQED
The latest gathering of the Bay Area J-School Alumni group took place on March 24 at the KQED headquarters building in San Francisco. About 30 alums showed up for two hours of chatting, networking and a discussion of career paths and strategies, featuring KQED staffers and Berkeley Journalism alums Rachael Myrow (’94), Vanessa Rancaño (’14), Tyche Hendricks (’97) and Maria Fernanda Bernal (’23). Thanks to Rachael and J-School lecturer Ethan Toven-Lindsey, KQED’s editor in chief, for hosting this get-together.
Missed it? Please take our Bay Area Alumni Group survey and tell us what types of gatherings you’d like to attend – or help organize.
Spring Meetups with BABJA and AAJA
This past spring, Berkeley Journalism was happy to host two community meetups that brought our current students together with our incredible alumni network and other Bay Area journalism professionals. We teamed up with BABJA and our NABJ student chapter for a Black Journalists Meetup, and followed it up in April with an Asian American Journalists Meetup alongside AAJA Bay Area and our AAJA student chapter. We’re looking forward to hosting more community events in the future.
CLASS NOTES: NEWS FROM AND ABOUT ALUMS
Spencer Ante (’95): In the winter of 2024, Spencer was hired by Zack Kass, a futurist and former Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI, to serve as the lead researcher and ghostwriter for a new book on the future of AI. He’s happy to share that in its first month of publication, “The Next RenAIssance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential,” has sold more than 37,000 copies. The book from Wiley debuted in the Top 10 on the USA Today, L.A. Times and Publisher’s Weekly lists, and is being translated into seven other languages. Spencer says he knows that many people feel like helpless servants to our machine overlords but working on this book reminded him that human agency matters.
Professor Elena Conis (’04) has been named to the 101st class of Guggenheim Fellows. She is among 223 fellows chosen from 5,000 applicants in 2026.
Sara Maamouri (’00): “Traces of Home,” a documentary that she produced and edited, had its world premiere at DOC NYC in November, where it was awarded the Grand Jury prize for Best Documentary in the U.S. competition. It will be screened at the Big Sky Documentary film festival as well as eight other festivals this spring. It is coming to CAAMFest in the S.F. Bay Area May 10. Buy tickets here.
Jordan Ritter Conn (’10) released a new book on April 21 titled “American Men.” A work of narrative nonfiction, the book interweaves the stories of four diverse men wrestling with their relationship to masculinity. The New York Times recently named it an Editors’ Choice, calling it “empathetic and quietly profound” in its review. As part of his book tour, Jordan will be at Mrs. Dalloway’s bookstore in Berkeley on April 26, in conversation with fellow J-School alum Elise Craig (’10).
Sarah McClure (Dewey) (’15) recently directed “Keep Quiet and Forgive,” a documentary now airing on PBS’s “Independent Lens” and available for streaming. It’s based on her year-long investigation with Type Investigations and Cosmopolitan magazine. Several fellow J-School alums worked on the film, including Jessie Deeter (’01), Clare Major (’10) and Lulu Orozco (’20).
Rachel Lauren Mueller (’20) recently pitched her first feature documentary, “The Quiet Part,” at the Geneva Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in Switzerland. The project, which explores the normalization of extremism, was awarded the Working Films Impact Award. You can read more about the project’s momentum in her producer’s recent interview with Business Doc Europe.
Zoe Rosenblum (’25) and Matthew Busch (’25) recently debuted their new short documentary, “Chasing Whales,” which premiered on Earth Day (April 22) via LA Times Short Docs. The film is currently available to watch and share for free with no paywall.
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