North Gate Update: How Journalists Can Fight Back

 

Hello, fellow Berkeley Journalism alums!

Here’s the latest newsletter by and for alumni meant to keep you abreast of coming events and provide helpful information. In it you’ll find a note from the acting dean, a guide to resources that aid and protect journalists, updates on alums just like you, and invitations to a variety of happenings, from reunions to local meetups to an online discussion of how journalists can best protect themselves and their craft at this difficult time. We hope you will read, sign up and get in touch to help us build our growing alumni community.

–Berkeley Journalism Alumni Advisory Committee

P.S. If you are interested in joining or learning more about how you can be involved with the committee, please reach out to Lia Swindle, Alumni Engagement, UC Berkeley Journalism.

Dear Berkeley Journalism alums:

At this precarious and challenging time for journalists and the industry, many of you are working in media or supporting journalism, storytelling and fact-finding in myriad ways. Some of you may have lost journalism jobs or are otherwise directly feeling the economic and political pressures of the moment. Still others of you may be struggling to find hope and agency during a period of determined attacks on facts and our free press.

I want to extend my gratitude and respect to all of you. This moment we are living through is not an easy one, and it calls for bottomless resilience.

As a school, we have been responding to the moment through individual class and faculty projects, an all-school initiative, and programming to serve everyone in our community, including all of you. We’ve launched a schoolwide reporting project called “The Stakes” — a collaboration with our California Local News Fellowship program reporters statewide and local news sites — to cover community-level effects of the stream of federal executive orders, actions and cuts issued since January 20. Through our alumni office, with the help of the Alumni Advisory Committee, we are creating opportunities for you to connect with one another and provide resources to support you during this challenging time. And please know that our ongoing activities will be further shaped by a new dean, who is expected to begin this summer.

Thank you for all you do, and thank you for being such a vibrant and engaged alumni community.

Warmly,

Elena Conis
Acting Dean and Professor

Quick Resources Guide for Journalists

By Jennifer Ward ’01, Chair, Berkeley Journalism Alumni Advisory Committee

In these challenging times, reporters and editors may need quick access to critical information to help navigate choppy waters connected with writing news articles, creating video, and recording audio.

Whether reporting in rural communities or working as videographers at large publications, journalists can rely on a number of organizations, experts, and educational material for help with legal challenges, accessing government information, or connecting with financial sources.

We hope this information can serve as a guide to connect those seeking these resources.

Here are some important links to help with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, First Amendment legal protection, and accessing financial funds for work.

FOIA/Open Meeting Laws

FOIA is a foundational law ensuring the public’s right to request access to records kept by any federal agency. This brief article explains what FOIA is, and its significance to journalists seeking to investigate and report more deep dive stories.

Similar statutes apply to state government agencies. For example, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCPF) has a comprehensive list of every state’s open records and open meetings laws.

RCFP also has a pre-publication “vetting” guide to address legal concerns. The RCFP works in partnership with the Fund for Investigative Journalism and other groups.

Freedom of the Press Foundation helps journalists protect sources and provides educational material design to help in the area of digital security.

First Amendment Support

Understanding the role of the First Amendment and how it impacts newsgathering is critical in today’s climate. A robust number of programs and organizations help educate and guide journalists in this arena.

Poynter Institute:

The Poynter Institute is a long running journalism training ground that offers workshops about ethics and the First Amendment.

Among other tools, Poynter has an webinar entitled, “Safeguarding your journalism against legal threats” that educates journalists on how to protect themselves.

Nonpartisan and nonprofit, the First Amendment Coalition provides a legal hotline along with resource handbooks and educational events primarily focused on California.

Financial Assistance

The Society of Professional Journalists:

SPJ has a special Legal Defense Fund that “collects and distributes contributions for aiding journalists in defending the freedom of speech and press guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

Specifically, the fund will help to “initiate and support litigation that enforces public access to government records and proceedings.”

SPJ even has an emergency line. Call their national headquarters at 317-927-8000 or call the chairs of either of the Society’s Legal Defense Fund or the Freedom of Information committees. They also have a page dedicated to journalists covering protests.

Potential financial assistance can also be tapped through Freedom Forum, which offers fiscal sponsorships and a fellowship opportunity.

Feedback

Tell us what you think and where you need support. Specifically:

• Share stories and work examples of how you’ve encountered these challenges.
• Share resources you and colleagues are using to work through them.

UPCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS

Date:
Wednesday, June 4

Venue:
All Season Brewing
800 S. La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, CA

Time:
5:30 – 7:30 pm

RSVP here.

Date:
Wednesday June 25

Venue:
Merchants Exchange Bldg
465 California St #1600, San Francisco, CA 94104

Time:
5:30 – 7:30 pm

RSVP by Wednesday June 18, 2025.

Join Bay Area alumni for a fun couple of hours at the Merchants Exchange Building. Hosted by the S.F. Examiner; beer, wine and soft drinks provided. Walkable from Montgomery Street BART; parking garages nearby.

For more information or to help organize other Bay Area events, reach out to the Bay Area Alumni Group at caljsalums@gmail.com.

RECAP: SPRING 2025

On Saturday, March 15, alumni returned to North Gate Hall for Berkeley Journalism’s first-ever Narrative Reunion — a celebration for long-form, print, and narrative journalism graduates that brought alumni together from across the country. We welcomed alumni from across California, and as far away as Minnesota, Texas, Tennessee, and Washington to reconnect, reflect, and re-engage with former classmates and the craft that shaped their time at North Gate Hall.

The day kicked off with a welcome brunch and was followed by a full slate of thoughtful programming featuring J-School alums. The panels explored how alums are making journalism work in changing landscapes, how narrative skills translate across fields, and how to develop and embrace audio storytelling.

The afternoon featured three sessions:

• Passion Meets Profession: Making Journalism Work for You, featuring Andrew Gilbert ’98, Teresa Chin ’12 and Becca Andrews ’15, moderated by Stephen Hobbs ’14.
• New Possibilities: Where Journalism Can Take You, with Ilana DeBare ’87, Dave Gilson ’02, Laura Newberry ’18, and Julie T. Kane ’21, moderated by Jennifer Kahn ’00.
• Tell the Story But Make it Audio, led by faculty member Shereen Marisol Meraji.

The day concluded with an intimate reception in the courtyard and a fireside conversation between Tasneem Raja ’00 and Constance Hale ’91 about Tasneem’s career, leading Oaklandside and the importance of local journalism.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the alumni who helped imagine what a meaningful reunion could look like — and made it happen: Liz Lufkin ’78, Constance Hale ’91, Kate Rix ’97, Jennifer Kahn ’00, Stephen Hobbs ’14, Spencer Smith-Silva ’18, Leah Rosenbaum ’19, and Tarini Mehta ’24.

We’re grateful to everyone who joined us and are already looking forward to the next gathering.

Alumni Meetup at NICAR2025

Alumni and students attending NICAR2025 gathered at the Lyon’s Pub in Minneapolis on Thursday, March 6, to connect, network and celebrate. The event was hosted by faculty members Jennifer LaFleur and Jeremy Sanchez Rue (‘07).

Alumni from 1996 go back to the J200 classroom

Bill Drummond invited former students from his 1996 J200 class back to the classroom to talk to current students about building a career the first five years out of college: Alumni that took part included Macarena Hernández ’96, Bonnie Eslinger ’96, Edward Wong ’96, and John Lyons ’96.

Class Notes

Christopher Chow, class of 1970, graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Journalism in 1970, and turned to community activism following a trailblazing career in broadcast journalism. He was the first Asian American hired as an on-air television news reporter in San Francisco and Northern California by KPIX CBS 5 in November, 1970. He was also the first Asian American television reporter to receive an Associated Press Award in investigative reporting for his documentary about Chinatown youth gangs, “Under Their Ancestors Shadows” (1971-72); and the first Asian American reporter-producer to receive an Emmy Award for his documentary about family farmers battling agribusiness in the Central Valley, “Pastures of Plenty” (1972-73). In recognition of his work, AsAmNews, a daily online news and Library of Congress Preservation site, awarded him with the first “Bad Ass Asian Pioneer Journalist Award” in November, 2024. That same year, Chow published a detailed account of the grassroots community efforts that saved the historic Angel Island Immigration Station and its wall-inscribed Chinese poems in San Francisco Bay from demolition by the State of California. “Saving the Angel Island U.S. Immigration Station, How Community Activists Rescued the Detention Barracks From Neglect and Oblivion”was posted on Medium at the end of 2024. His retirement after 15 years as a public information officer for the California Public Utilities Commission at the end of 2024 has given him the opportunity to pursue writing a history of pioneering Asian American journalists and other media projects around the rise of the Asian American cultural and political movement.

Alix Christie, class of 1986, is still a cultural journalist after many years working for newspapers, but she mainly writes fiction now. Her second novel “The Shining Mountains,” was published on March 4, 2025. It’s a family epic of the true course and cost of Manifest Destiny on the peoples of the Rocky Mountain West. She writes that “I recently won a Pushcart Prize, which is pretty darn exciting.”

Mike Spencer, class of 1991, won a five-year-off-and-on battle with San Francisco police to have them release the case file in the 1998 murder of biker Gary Murphy. He went before the San Francisco Sunshine Task Force about four times before the Task Force agreed with his position and SFPD complied. He made the true crime podcast “The Gary Murphy Assassination” with the help of producer and fellow J-School alum Brian Krans. The case file and his research proved that his former client was behind the murder conspiracy of Murphy, stemming from a child custody battle. It was an ugly experience as a new private investigator at the time. Police have not made arrests and the SF District Attorney claims no records of the case. The case speaks volumes about how the media and police ignore unsympathetic victims.

Tung Yin, class of 1992. After writing several dozen academic law articles, Tung Yin’s first book was published in Spring 2025. Titled “National Security Lies” it’s about the various lies that presidents have told over the nation’s history purportedly for national security reasons, the challenges in regulating such lies, and a proposal for doing so based on existing models of controlling covert activity, classification of information, and more. He’s currently a Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School.

But wait, there’s more! Check out alums in the news and previous class notes: February 2025, November 2024 and October 2024!

Share your updates here.

Congratulations to the Class of 2025!

This email newsletter is sent to UC Berkeley Journalism alumni. 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.