Berkeley Journalism Quarterly Newsletter: Winter 2025

 

Dear Berkeley Journalism Community,

Our hearts go out to you and yours in the Los Angeles-area who have been contending with the devastating fires and aftermath. And thanks to all of the devoted journalists who are covering this ongoing crisis.

At a time of turmoil in our natural and political worlds, it feels more important than ever to be a journalist and to be in a position to educate future journalists. I am grateful to be associated with UC Berkeley Journalism and the important work of our students, faculty, staff and alums in these times. Please take a look at much of this work all in one place: Berkeley Journalism’s 2024 Impact Report highlights the extraordinary work of our community.

In this winter Quarterly News, you will find more about our award-winning faculty and students and the stories they’re reporting every day. Read about our commitment to local news and the success of the 75 fellows (and counting!) in newsrooms across California. And see how you can engage more deeply with us as we defend journalism and lead journalism education in the months and years ahead.

One of those ways would be to pitch in as part of our upcoming campus-wide fundraising effort focused on UC Berkeley’s role in strengthening democracy. At this pivotal moment, we’re equipping the next generation of journalists to shine a light on the issues that matter most. Please visit our crowdfunding site.

Thank you for your unwavering dedication to the school and to our field.

Warmly,

Elena Conis
Acting Dean and Professor

Awards

Professor Jennifer LaFleur and alums Brian Howey (’22) and Steven Rascón (’22) won prestigious duPont-Columbia Awards, presented at a ceremony at Columbia University’s Low Library on January 22. LaFleur, Rascón and teams at Reveal, The Center for Public Integrity, Mother Jones and PRX won for the three-part series “40 Acres and a Lie,” about a U.S. government program that gave — and then took away — land titles to more than 1,200 formerly enslaved people in the immediate post-Civil War era.

Howey’s story “We Regret to Inform You,” which aired on Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and was published in the Los Angeles Times, is about how California police are trained to plumb the families of people killed by police for derogatory information to help shield police departments from lawsuits. The story was developed in our Investigative Reporting Program with guidance from IRP Chair David Barstow and News Editor Christine Schiavo.

J-Schoolers Rafael Roy (’18), Katie Bernstein (’21) and Gina Pollack (’16) are nominees in the 97th Academy Awards for their doc “I Am Ready, Warden,” honors announced on January 23. Professor Jason Spingarn-Koff (’01) and Alexis Bloom (’01) were shortlisted for the Academy Awards.

Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Excellence in Journalism Awards: Professor William Drummond received the Career Achievement Award in print journalism, honoring his longtime and enduring contributions. Professor Jennifer LaFleur’s team on “40 Acres and a Lie,” won the SPJ award for Public Service. Lecturer Manjula Varghese (’17) won for best Arts & Culture (TV/video) for episodes of “Beyond the Menu” on Hong Kong-style pineapple buns, chamoy and Rocky Road ice cream, for KQED. Kelsey Oliver (’25) received the John Gothberg Award for Meritorious Service for establishing a chapter at the school and involving students in the SPJ Satellite Chapter at San Quentin. Holly McDede (’25) won for best Features Journalism (radio/audio/podcast small division) for a “Philosophy Talk” segment on righteous rage for KALW. Multiple alumni were acknowledged as well. Read our story here.

Three current Berkeley Journalism students and 15 alumni were honored in the San Francisco Press Club’s 47th Annual Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards, which celebrate the best journalism from the region. The winning entries represent extraordinary local reporting on everything from the housing and mental health crises, to deadly interactions with law enforcement officers regionally, to local election and immigration coverage and the safety of countertop fabrication workers.

Many of those honored are beat reporters, deeply engaged in their communities across the Bay Area. And two are members of the California Local News Fellowship program — the largest publicly-funded news initiative in the country — launched with state funding in 2022 and housed at Berkeley Journalism.

 

The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents, the leading independent organization representing foreign journalists in America, recently named us one of the “Top U.S. Universities for Foreign Correspondents Seeking Journalism Degrees” in the United States.

 

Student News

The competitive Marlon Riggs Fellowship in Documentary Filmmaking honoring the pioneering Black filmmaker (“Tongues Untied,” “Ethnic Notions”) and late alum/doc professor Marlon T. Riggs (’81) has been awarded to Neenma Ebeledike (’25) and Zane Karram (’25). Read about these promising young filmmakers here. Karram (’25) was also awarded a San Francisco/Northern CA Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences scholarship.

U.S Army veteran Wayne Gray’s (’25) story about Hero’s Bridge volunteer veteran “buddies” who offer companionship, emotional support, at-home care or just a helping hand to aging veterans ran in the Washington Post.

Chelsea Long (’25) contributed reporting to alum Brian Howey’s (’22) investigation into police agencies setting their own rules about Taser use in The New York Times and Mississippi Today. Fuwad Ahamad (’26) writes for The Guardian about the family of OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji demanding an FBI investigation.

Holly McDede (’25) was represented by the First Amendment Coalition in a successful public records act request regarding a Benicia school teacher accused of sexual misconduct. Her story appeared in the Vallejo Sun in December. She also had an audio story about the California Jazz Conservatory air on KQED, featuring photographs by alum Florence Middleton (’24).

Aisha Wallace-Palomares (’25) is the first student to be featured in our “My J-School” social videos produced by  Cecilia Egbele (’25).

Berkeley Journalism has selected its fourth group of extraordinary first-generation college students to be Dean’s Fellows. This year’s Fellows, all part of the Class of 2026, are Sara Martin, Marquis Ryan-Mahone Chambers, Amy Osborne, Andres Jimenez Larios, Paul Ghusar, and Daniela X. Sandoval. The program gives graduates the freedom to pursue their careers in journalism by dramatically reducing the debt burden they carry into their professional lives.

Erin Sheridan (’26) has been named this year’s Dorothea Lange Fellow by a multidisciplinary panel of judges. The $4,000 fellowship, established in the late 1980s at UC Berkeley in memory of one of the 20th century’s most gifted documentary photographers, celebrates the use of photography by students or faculty members in scholarly work of any discipline. The judges, who are photographers, curators and academics, also awarded Fikremariam Gedefaw, a Ph.D. student in political economics at Haas School of Business, an Honorable Mention.

Panashe Matemba-Mutasa (’25) and Amaray Alvarez (’25) participated in a week-long press visit of the European Union Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium in October as part of a group of 15 journalism students from the U.S. and Canada. The students learned about government and policymaking while touring the European Parliament and Council.

Ava Hu (’26) was awarded a $1,000 early career scholarship from the AAJA-S.F. Bay Area Chapter. Hu is a multimedia reporter with expertise in Mandarin coverage and digital design.

Walter Marino (‘25) has been awarded $10,000 in the inaugural cohort of Mycoskie – UC Berkeley Psychedelic Documentary Fellows. The Fellowship aims to empower a new generation of filmmakers exploring the burgeoning field of psychedelics.

Megumi Tanaka (’25) was selected for the corporate reporting internship at The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau, covering technology.

Jordan Cooper (’25) profiled lecturer James Wheaton, instructor of journalism law at Berkeley Journalism, a law professor at Stanford (teaching since 1999) and co-founder of the First Amendment Project, in East Bay magazine.

Inaara Gangji (’26) and Hannah Johansson (’25) have been named Overseas Press Club Scholarship recipients. Every year, the OPC Foundation awards scholarships to 18 students who have a passion to become international correspondents, helping them to launch their careers in print, video and photojournalism. They will be recognized at the 34th Annual OPC Foundation Scholar Awards on March 5 in New York. Gangji will be interning with the Associated Press through the OPC this summer.

Faculty News

 

Our new spring lecturers and visiting professors add a depth of experience from the nation’s top newsrooms to Berkeley Journalism’s dynamic spring lineup. They include Matthew Winkler, Bloomberg News co-founder, Jay Caspian Kang, former New York Times magazine staff writer, Cyrus Farivar, Forbes senior tech writer, Boris Muñoz, founder of The New York Times Opinion section in Spanish, and Michelle Pera-McGhee, a journalist-engineer at The Pudding.

Our faculty continues to publish extraordinary journalism, even while teaching.

Jenn Kahn’s (’00) recent cover story in the New York Times Magazine is about chronic pain, a massive and poorly understood problem. As many as two billion people suffer from it — including her.

Mark Schapiro’s latest in Smithsonian Magazine is a story about an Italian scientist who investigates centuries-old paintings for clues about produce that have disappeared from the kitchen table. Listen to a January interview with Schapiro on “There’s More to That,” from Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions, here.

Ken Light’s work is featured in the exhibit “American Jobs 1940–2011,” which opened with hundreds of guests and much fanfare on January 23 at the prestigious International Center of Photography in New York and runs through May 5. The exhibition explores the transformation of work in America, and with it the rise of activism and new forms of solidarity in pursuit of humane working conditions and economic equity. ⁠

Adam Hochschild’s story “There Are Many Programs Trying to Reduce Recidivism. This One Works. I went to find out why,” is in the December issue of Mother Jones.

Professor William Drummond was selected to be part of the spring 2025 cohort of the Berkeley Faculty Writing Collective, joining approximately 20 faculty from across campus of all disciplines and ranks.

IRP Managing Editor Bernice Yeung and Visiting Professor Brian Eule will be special writing guests at the Community of Writers Summer Writers Workshop in Olympic Valley, California in July.

Nick Romeo asks “What Could Citizens’ Assemblies Do for American Politics?,” in The New Yorker in December.

“Standing Above the Clouds,” the latest feature doc edited by instructor Diana Diroy, had its NYC premiere at DOC NYC in November.

 

Alumni News

Celebrated director Pete Nicks (’99) is in the development phase of a sequel to the critically acclaimed 2012 documentary “The Waiting Room” called “Nurse Station” that returns to Oakland’s Highland Hospital in the time period following the waning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The film will follow three nurses as they both provide care – and struggle to care for themselves – in the wake of one of the most devastating events to ever impact American nursing. MJ Johnson (’23) is working on it as an associate producer and assistant editor.

Florence Middleton (’24) was named a College Photographer of the Year/ Documentary Photographic Project finalist at CPOY 79. Her photojournalism thesis project “Take Care: The Blood, Milk, and Tears of the American Postpartum Journey” is a photographic documentary project chronicling the most ignored stage of the birthing experience: the postpartum period.

Los Angeles Times columnist Anita Chabria (’00) won the Excellence in Opinion Writing award at the 2024 Scripps Howard Journalism Awards for her series of columns, “Inside Out: Normalizing Incarceration to Increase Public Safety,” which examined how corrections officers, inmates, victims and communities are affected by the Scandinavian rehabilitation approach. Watch a video about the series and interviews with Chabria here.

Caren Bohan (’92) was appointed Editor in Chief of USA Today.

Najim Rahim (’24) won the Daniel Pearl Award at the 2024 SAJA Awards for “Afghan Women,” a series in The New York Times about how the return of the Taliban has set back important strides made by Afghan women since the 9/11 attacks.

Bret Sigler (’03) and Singeli Agnew’s (’07) terrific four-part doc series “Citizen Nation” for Retro Report and PBS is an inspiring coming-of-age story that follows teenagers from across the U.S. with diverse personal and political backgrounds as they come together to compete in the nation’s premier civics competition.

Sundance January 23–February 2
Director Violet Du Feng’s (’04) “The Dating Game,” competed in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. In a country where eligible men greatly outnumber women, three serial bachelors join an intensive seven-day dating camp led by one of China’s most sought-after dating coaches, in what may be their last-ditch effort to find love.

Shilpi Gupta (’03) was an editor on “The Stringer”, a two-year investigation that questions the making of one of the most-recognized photographs of the 20th century, that screened at Sundance.

 

Steven Leckart (’07) (“Challenger: The Final Flight,” writer of “What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali” and writer and executive producer of the Hulu series “Legacy: True Story of the L.A. Lakers”) is directing a feature documentary produced by Eminem about his superfans and relationship to fame/fandom with initial distribution from Paramount/MTV.

Cayla Mihalovich’s (’24) audio doc “Forced Sterilization Survivors Undertake Own Healing After Feeling ‘Silenced Again’ by State”, for The California Report’s weekly Magazine on KQED —hosted by Sasha Khokha (’04) with senior editor Victoria Mauleon (’01)— aired in October. The stunning report emerged from her thesis project in the audio program, edited by Professor Shereen Marisol Meraji, based on a rolling investigation she did via our Investigative Reporting Program. Its impact? Since her rolling investigation first published in November 2023, the California Victim Compensation Board acknowledged ablations as a form of sterilization under the reparations law. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Sept. 30 to give more time to survivors of state-sponsored sterilization to appeal their case if they were denied reparations. The program, which was slated to conclude in Sept. 2024, will now end in January 2026.

Award-winning filmmaker, author, and journalist Verónica Moscoso (’11) recently published her 12th easy-to-read book for Spanish learners! It’s called “El delfín mágico de la Amazonía” (The Magic Dolphin of the Amazon).

Rafael Roy (’18) was the Director of Photography for “Family Tree”, that world premiered at Full Frame 2024, and explores sustainable forestry in North Carolina through the stories of Black families fighting to preserve their land and legacy. Roy also provided camerawork on the Apple TV+ docu-series “Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces“.

Our latest alumni newsletter North Gate Update features “5 Questions With Alsanosi Adam (’16)” who describes his two years at the J-School as “some of the most important times in my life” to Bonnie Eslinger (’98). For information on alumni programming at UC Berkeley Journalism, including events, volunteer opportunities and/or questions, please email Lia Swindle.

Brad Bailey’s (’17) latest documentary, the Oscar-Qualified “Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner”— timed with the 10-year anniversary— was in contention for Best Documentary Short Film at the Academy Awards. Jeff Weisinger (’18) and Isaac Smith (’19) worked on the film which took six years to film. Bailey, the film’s director, is the first African American to win the Student Oscar Gold in Documentary for his thesis film “Hale“.

Adam Shemper’s (’04) most recent photography exhibition, “Light in These Hills: Oxford, Mississippi,” ran November-January 5, 2025 at Prospect Gallery, a new gallery in south Mississippi.

Emily Taguchi (’06) was the supervising producer of CNN’s Kobe: The Making of a Legend, a three-part documentary series exploring the life and legacy of an American icon, shedding light on the unseen forces that shaped his journey. From following in the footsteps of his father, former NBA player Joe Bryant, to becoming one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Kobe Bryant’s life was one of triumph, controversy, and transformation. Shilpi Gupta (’03) edited episode 2 of the docuseries, released in January.

Upcoming Events

February 2 – February 23: Climate Journalism on Screen film series at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). Jason Spingarn-Koff, Professor of Journalism and Knight Chair of Climate Journalism and Jennifer Redfearn, Director of the Documentary Program, helped curate the series that will be accompanied by post-screening discussions. “The Battle for Laikipia” by Daphne Matziaraki (’16) and Maya Craig (’17) — a sprawling documentary Western shot in equatorial Kenya over a period of five years, its subjects spurred into conflict over land scarred by drought and colonization — will screen Sunday, February 23, at 1 pm. Other alums who worked on the film include James Pace-Cornsilk (’16), additional cinematography/sound recording and assistant editors Lauren Schwartzman (’18) and Emily Thomas (’18).

February 6, noon: Lunchtime climate talk with TIME Magazine correspondent Justin Worland, in conversation with Professor Jason Spingarn-Koff (’01).

February 6, 6 pm: Logan Gallery Opening with Louie Palu in conversation with Professor Ken Light.

March 14, 8 am – 2 pm: 6th Annual Media Mayhem virtual career fair and networking event for Berkeley Journalism’s current students, recent graduates and undergraduate journalism minors. Is your news organization interested in attending? Contact Director of Career Development and Engagement Betsy Rate.

March 14, 6 pm: 2025 Herb Caen Lecture, featuring former Washington Post editorial page editor Jennifer Rubin in conversation with San Francisco Chronicle senior political reporter Joe Garofoli. Tickets available soon.

March 15: Berkeley Journalism’s Narrative Reunion includes a welcome brunch, afternoon panels, and a celebratory evening reception with a special guest. This first-of-its-kind reunion is designed for Berkeley Journalism alumni who focused on print, long-form, or narrative journalism during their time at the school. Contact Alumni Relations and Public Events Coordinator Lia Swindle with any questions.

March 20: The Ocean’s Stories Symposium: Science, Stewardship and Sustainability with lightning talks and panels, featuring journalists from Berkeley Journalism and the Pulitzer Center, UC Berkeley researchers and other Bay Area oceans experts. The keynote will be Stephen Palumbi of the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University and Chairwoman Violet Sage Walker of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. Registration opens soon.

Logan Symposium on Investigative Reporting: Registration is open

The 17th Annual Logan Symposium will bring together a Who’s Who of top investigative journalists to address the critical issues confronting the field, May 2 to 5 in Berkeley.

The event also convenes newsroom leaders, as well as media attorneys, academics, and major foundations and philanthropists who support journalism in the public interest.

Hosted by Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program since 2007, this intimate gathering is held in honor of Reva and David Logan, whose generosity helped establish the Investigative Reporting Program and the Reva and David Logan Distinguished Chair in Investigative Journalism. The event is invite only. Email the IRP for an invitation to register. A limited number of scholarships are available.

Applications open for the third cohort of California Local News Fellows

The California Local News Fellowship program is a multi-year, state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local reporting in California. Currently, 75 fellows are working in newsrooms across California, covering marginalized local communities. We are looking for up to 40 early-career journalists to be matched with local newsrooms around the state from September 2025 – August 2027.

To learn more about how the two-year paid fellowships (with UC Berkeley salary and benefits) work and whether this opportunity is a good match for you, please read through our Fellows FAQ and attend one of our upcoming information sessions.

Recent Event Highlights

Watch these recent events and more on our Berkeley Journalism YouTube Channel including “Media Postmortem: A conversation with veteran editors Marty Baron and Dean Baquet” and Edward Wong (’98) in conversation with Professor Mark Danner here.

Funding News – Our gratitude

 

The Investigative Reporting Program received a new grant from the SCAN Foundation to continue the Aging in America project for another two years, which means more internship and publishing opportunities for J-School students. In September, the IRP wrapped up a three-year SCAN Foundation grant that funded reporting on more than 40 stories that published in the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, CNN Health, KQED, USA Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, San Francisco Chronicle, PRI’s “The World” and more.

A special thanks to our donors for once again supporting our grad student scholarship program for academic year 2025 –2026: Angela (advisory board) and David Filo, advisory board member Steve Silberstein, The Helzel Family Foundation of the East Bay Community Foundation, and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Thanks to Emeritus Professor and Mission Local founder Lydia Chávez and her family for their generous support of this year’s Latin America Reporting class. Thank you to Chris (advisory board) and Michael Boskin, the Berkeley Frontier Fund, and to Matt Winkler and Bloomberg LP for generous support for our new Business Journalism certificate program. Thank you to the donors of our successful fall crowdfunding campaign that raised funds for up to 30 internship stipends for the summer 2025 cycle along with funding for our student support programs. Special thanks to Berkeley Journalism advisory board member Gary Knell for providing us with a matching gift that spurred additional giving, to Susan and Stephen Chamberlin and the Susan and Stephen Baird Foundation, including Abby Baird Gastevich (’12), for lead gifts that got us over our goal, and to the Olden Bears giving circle for continuing their support this year. And thanks to Minette Nelson (advisory board) and David Eckles, Greg Lutz, Bill Whitaker (advisory board) and Teresita Whitaker, Richard Gingras (advisory board) and Melissa Trumbo, Jeff Goodby and Jan Deming, and Richard Nagler and Sheila Sosnow for their support of the school.

Support fearless journalism

This is a pivotal moment for journalists to stand up and confront the threats facing democracy and our shared future, both at home and globally.

At Berkeley Journalism, we’re equipping the next generation of reporters to take on this critical mission. And it’s not just about what our students learn here — it’s about the difference they’re already making. From covering elections and local news to producing in-depth investigative stories, they’re shining a light on the issues that matter most.

Join us and other passionate supporters by making a generous contribution to this crowdfunding initiative today. Your gift helps train fearless journalists who dig deeper, ask the hard questions, and tell stories that truly make an impact.

About this communique: The Dean’s Letter is a quarterly email newsletter sent to alumni, donors, students, faculty, media partners and others in Berkeley Journalism’s broad community. If you’d like to follow ongoing developments in real-time, find us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, X and LinkedIn. Have alumni news or accomplishments to share? Please send it, along with a high-res headshot to journalism@berkeley.edu. Are you hiring? Please reach out to career.services@berkeley.edu. Want to learn more about donating to the school? Contact stevekatz@berkeley.edu.