Daffodil Altan

Daffodil Altan

Daffodil J. Altan

Lecturer

Alumni

Daffodil Altan is an Emmy-winning director, producer and correspondent. Most recently she directed, produced, and was the correspondent for the Peabody-nominated documentary COVID’s Hidden Toll (2020), which aired on FRONTLINE, PBS’s flagship investigative documentary series. The film was the latest installment in her award-winning body of work exposing the hidden realities facing low-wage immigrant workers in the U.S., many of whom are undocumented. She directed, produced and was the correspondent for the Emmy-winning,Kids Caught in the Crackdown (2019), a collaboration with the Associated Press that examined the lasting impact on children held in U.S. custody, and Trafficked in America, (2018), which told the inside story of Guatemalan teens who were forced to work against their will on an Ohio egg farm, and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. She directed and produced the FRONTLINE/Univision documentary, “Rape on the Night Shift,” a film, radio and print collaboration between the JSchool’s IRP, Reveal, and KQED, which investigated the hidden reality of sexual assault on the job for women janitors in the U.S. The film won the Investigative Reporters and Editors award for best Broadcast/Video, led to the passage of a new state law in California, and was nominated for two national Emmys. Previously she was a producer at Reveal for the Center for Investigative Reporting, where she co-produced the Emmy-nominated Telemundo/MSNBC documentary, “Batalla en La Frontera/Clash at the Border,” and where her multimedia reporting on teen solitary confinement at Rikers Island earned her an Emmy nomination and was part of a wave of renewed coverage that led to the banning of solitary confinement for teens at the New York City jail. Daffodil is also a print and radio journalist, and her credits include: KQED, Reveal, the PBS NewsHour, The Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, and the OC Weekly (where she was a staff writer), among others. She has received awards for her work from Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., the Society of Professional Journalists, The Third Coast Audio Festival, the Los Angeles Press Club and the Imagen Foundation. She has received grants for her work from the MacArthur Foundation, the International Documentary Association, and Latino Public Broadcasting. She has a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she is also a lecturer.

EDUCATION

  • UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Master's in Journalism

AWARDS & HONORS

  • 2022
    DuPont Award Finalist: "COVID's Hidden Toll"
    2021
    Peabody Nominee: "COVID's Hidden Toll"
    Scripps-Howard Award for Excellence in National/International Investigative Reporting: "COVID's Hidden Toll"
    2020
    National News & Documentary Emmy Award: “Kids Caught in the Crackdown”
    2019
    Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism, finalist: “Trafficked in America”
    2016
    Third Coast Audio Festival, Directors Choice Award for “Violación de un Sueño: Jornada Nocturna”
    2016
    National News and Documentary Emmy nominee: “Rape on the Night Shift”
    National News and Documentary Emmy nominee: “Clash at the Border/Batalla en la Frontera”
    Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for Best Broadcast: “Rape on the Night Shift.”
    2015
    National Emmy nominee: “The Box: Teens in Solitary Confinement”
    2014
    Society of Professional Journalists, Excellence in Video Journalism Award: “The Box: Teens in Solitary Confinement.”
    2012
    Imagen Award, Best Web Series/Reality: “Black and Latino”
    2009
    Journalist of the Year, Finalist, Los Angeles Press Club Awards
    2008
    Society of Professional Journalists Award, Best Education Story: “Hard Knocks,” OC Weekly
    Los Angeles Press Club Awards, Best Sports Story: “Ronny,” OC Weekly
    2007
    San Diego Asian Film Festival Award, Best Short Documentary: “Mookey’s Story”

MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS

  • Board Member: Fund for Investigative Journalism

    Board Member: Latino Journalists of California (CCNMA)