2021 NewsBreak Fellowship for Local Journalism
We are excited to announce our 24 fellows for the NewsBreak Fellowship for Local Journalism. These talented young journalists were selected from applicants across the country and will be reporting on their local communities this summer.
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The fellows are a diverse group of students and recent graduates. Together, they represent:
- 20 cities
- 15 states
- 18 schools
NewsBreak’s mission is to make local news and information easily accessible to improve everyone’s quality of life. This fellowship comes at a time when many local newsrooms are struggling and paid mentorship and growth opportunities are not as abundant. We’ve seen many outlets shift their focus from local to national over the years, but we believe supporting local news and local journalists is more critical than ever.
NewsBreak has been working to build a platform that connects people in the U.S. to important local news and information. Fellow Alexis Gebhardt explains how she used NewsBreak to connect with her multiple communities across the country, “Due to COVID, I reported on stories about Los Angeles for USC Annenberg Media while living in Orlando, Florida. In the beginning, this was challenging because knowing what is happening in LA is more difficult when you are not there experiencing it. To combat this, I began using NewsBreak to find stories to pitch for my Executive Producing training shift. It was extremely helpful, and NewsBreak gave me access to stories about not only Los Angeles, but also stories from my own backyard.”
This paid fellowship was designed to give students the opportunity to develop their local reporting skills while providing their communities with critical information. The fellowship program is 10 weeks and will run until the end of July.
The NewsBreak 2021 Summer Fellows are Abby Donnelly, Alexis Gebhardt, Anna Sundholm, Asher Ali, Bradley Cole, Chloe Tai, Cindy Sanchez, Corey Schmidt, Eliot Schiaparelli, Elizabeth Spadaccini, Gianna Baez, Hayley Slusser, Josie Hinke, Kathryn Bistodeau, Maggie Degnan, Maia Vines, Melanie Henshaw, Peter Gordon, Reilly Moncrief, Renee Elefante, Ryan Magill, Sophie Kidd, Tayler Shaw and Taylor Coester.
The fellows come from a range of colleges and graduate schools including: Boston University, Chapman University, University of Colorado Boulder, Columbia University, DePaul University, Emerson College, Fordham University, Georgetown University, Gonzaga University, Millersville University, University of Oregon, Rutgers University, Stony Brook University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Southern California, Washington and Lee University, University of Wisconsin–Madison and Yale University.
“The NewsBreak team is excited to see how each fellow will grow and make a difference in their community this summer,” said Ellen Minkin, Fellowship Program Manager at NewsBreak. “Their passion and talent is impressive and has already inspired us.”
See more announcements from NewsBreak here.