Erin Chessin

Erin Chessin

Alumni

Erin Chessin is second-year graduate student studying documentary filmmaking and investigative reporting. Her work focuses on topics in mental health, education, environment, criminal justice and law enforcement.

Chessin is now a spring intern at NBC Dateline, assisting with various episodes in production. She recently co-authored a story in The New York Times about a Sacramento school district’s distinguished mental health program grappling with the pandemic, titled “A Successful Lifeline for Natomas Students Is Feeling the Strain.”

After graduating from Humboldt State University in 2019, Chessin became a research assistant for Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program later that fall, where she covered police documents out of the SB 1421 public records request in the Ukiah Daily Journal.

Chessin investigated and reported the unsolved murder of a Humboldt State student. Her story, “Fighting Words,” shed light on never-before heard details from the night of the murder and was published in the fall 2017 issue of Osprey, which received the highest honors from the California College Media Association, earning first place for Best Magazine Story in 2018.

Now as a documentary filmmaker, Chessin wants to continue reporting on crime and covering injustice in all forms. Her first film, Believe in Me, will premiere at film festivals beginning June 2021.

EDUCATION

  • University of California, Berkeley M.A in Journalism (Expected May 2021)

  • Humboldt State University, B.A in Journalism, minor in Psychology (May 2019)

EMPLOYERS

  • Spring Intern, Dateline NBC
    January 2021 - May 2021

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Nominated for Outstanding Student at Humboldt State University (2019)

  • Fourth Place California College Media Association for Best Magazine (2019)

  • Outstanding Contribution to the Osprey, Humboldt State University Department of Journalism (2019)

  • First Place California College Media Association for Best Magazine Story (2018)

  • Outstanding Contribution to the Osprey, Humboldt State University Department of Journalism (2018)

  • USA Track and Field All-American Academic Award (2018)

PUBLICATIONS & OTHER WORK

  • Editor-in-Chief and Layout Editor for Osprey magazine, Aug. - Dec. 2019. Read: https://issuu.com/ospreymagazine/docs/osprey_fall_2018

  • Copy Editor and Reporter for Osprey magazine, Aug. - Dec. 2018. Read: https://issuu.com/ospreymagazine/docs/osprey_fall_2017

REPORTING INTERESTS

Criminal Justice, Documentary filmmaking, Environmental Justice, Investigative, Sports Journalism