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 a welcome brunch, and then features three panels featuring J-School alumni & faculty — “Passion Meets Profession: Making Journalism Work for You,” “New Possibilities: Where Journalism Can Take You” and “Tell the Story but Make It Audio.” The day closes with a reception and a fireside chat with Tasneem Raja (‘00), editor-in-chief of The Oaklandside.

For the full schedule and to see the panelists, visit the RSVP page. To attend, RSVP by Friday, February 28.

5 Questions for Ilana deBare (’87) and Tasmeen Raja (’00)

Speaking of the narrative reunion, we’ve got two Q and A’s for you in this newsletter.

Illana deBare (‘87) is one of the “New Possibilities” panelists. Ahead of that, she did an interview by email with Bonnie Eslinger (‘98) about her upcoming book “Shaken Free,” why everyone should take a statistics course, and how to transition to a new career. Read Ilana’s Q&A.

And Greta Mart (‘15) caught up with The Oaklandside’s Tasneem Raja (’00), who talked about how she got into journalism and why we’re in the golden age of local news. Read Tasneem’s Q&A.

As L.A. Burned, Berkeley Alums Were There

As we started putting this newsletter together, the horrific fires that ravaged so much of the Los Angeles area were still not out. And that meant Melanie Mason (’10) and Jackeline Luna (’18), two of more than 200 Berkeley Journalism alums who live and work in Los Angeles, were still covering this tragedy in their own backyard.

Both are L.A. natives who have been back in the area for the past five or six years. Both worked at the L.A. Times before moving into their new roles recently: Melanie is a senior political reporter for Politico focused on L.A. politics; Jackeline is a senior video journalist for Reuters. Each was assigned to cover specific aspects of the blazes.

Jackeline Luna

Jackeline, for whom the days since the fires started have been “a blur,” sought out human interest stories, and saw her videos posted around the globe. Melanie, who dealt with the political fallout that sparked almost immediately, was glad for the “clarity of mission” she found in her part of such a massive and fast-moving event. Both, fortunately, live far enough from the fires that they have remained safe throughout, but were anguished at seeing places they knew and loved destroyed.

Melanie Mason

Are you a Berkeley Journalism alum in L.A.? Tell us about your experience dealing with the fires. We’ll share those stories in our next newsletter. Email us at caljsalums@gmail.com. The UC Berkeley Quarterly News: Winter 2025 edition also shared information about Berkeley Journalism alumni and faculty covering the fires in Los Angeles.

Berkeley Journalism at NICAR 2025

Attending NICAR 2025 in Minneapolis next month? Join faculty members Jennifer LaFleur and Jeremy Sanchez Rue at a Berkeley Journalism Meetup on Thursday, March 6, at 7:30 pm at Lyon’s Pub. RSVP here.

What Are You Up to This Summer?

UC Berkeley Journalism still has some summer job openings, ranging from “Introduction to New Reporting”  to “Social Media Verification and Engagement.”  Most classes are taught remotely, although you do have to be in the U.S. to work for the university. The first round of applicant reviews starts this week, so move quick if you’re interested. More info here.

First Bay Area Alumni Get-together a Success!

On Friday, Jan. 10, about 30 Berkeley Journalism alumni from around the Bay Area gathered for an informal meetup at Local Edition, the newspaper-themed basement bar in the old Hearst Building at Third and Market streets in San Francisco. The no-host event was the first organized by your new volunteer alumni advisory committee, to kick off its efforts to build connections among Bay Area alums.

There was a wide range of classes represented, but most on hand were 21st century grads. Those who came seemed pleased to be connecting with friends from their classes and former instructors, and finding opportunities to network. There was definite interest expressed in further such events, with at least one reporter suggesting that her publication might be willing to host a gathering. If you have an idea for a Bay Area alumni get-together, please contact our committee at caljsalums@gmail.com, and we can help organize.

Berkeley Journalism Sundance Meetup

Berkeley Journalism and other UC Berkeley alum enjoying an intimate meetup at Sundance.

Front row: Professor Jason Spingarn-Koff (’01), Shilpi Gupta (’04), Violet Du Feng (’04), Jigar Mehta (’05), Annika Dubrall (BA ’03), Chris Ehrmann (’23). Back row: Duc Pham (BS’02), Jesse Moss (BA ’93)

And the winner is …

On the heels of winning the Selden Ring Award, UC Berkeley Journalism Investigative Reporting Program alums Katey Rusch (’20) and Casey Smith (’20) have won the 2024 George Polk Award for Justice Reporting for their two-part story “Right to Remain Secret,” Long Island University announced. The story, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, exposes a system for concealing police misconduct by California law enforcement officers for decades.

Rafael Roy, Katie Bernstein and Gina Pollack.

And, congratulations to the J-School alums behind “I Am Ready, Warden,” which is up for Best Documentary Short Film at this year’s Academy Awards. Rafael Roy (’18) was the director of photography, Katie Bernstein (’21) served as post-producer and additional editor and Gina Pollack (’16) was assistant editor. Tune in on March 2 to see if they win.

Class Notes

Thank you to everyone who has written in so far! See below for the latest entries, and if you haven’t checked in yet, please tell us what you’re up to these days.

Elizabeth Mehren (’69 ) My fifth book, “I Lived to Tell the World: Stories From Survivors of Holocaust, Genocide and the Atrocities of War,” was published this past spring by Oregon State University Press. The book springs from my work with a nonprofit here in Portland, Ore., called The Immigrant Story. Along with crafting these long interviews with survivors of crises ranging from the Holocaust in Europe to events that are transpiring at this moment, I’ve loved working with students from colleges and universities throughout the Northwest. What a happy and fortuitous transition from teaching journalism students at Boston University and, before that, working as a national correspondent at the L.A. Times.

Edward Goldstein (’73) Based in France (and now also French) for almost 40 years, I retired from France Televisions in 2019. I also freelanced as a video editor, sound man, et al.

But wait, there’s more! Check out alums in the news, alumni highlights, our journalism adjacent feature, and previous Class Notes! Share your news here.

For information on alumni programming at UC Berkeley Journalism, including events, volunteer opportunities and/or questions, please email Lia Swindle, Alumni Engagement, at lia.swindle@berkeley.edu.