2020-2021

The Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun, founded in 1837, is the largest daily newspaper in Maryland, with a coverage area that includes Baltimore City and five surrounding counties. Much of The Sun’s journalism has exposed corruption and sparked changes, including the resignation of the city’s mayor this year. At the same time, we surface powerful, often under-the-radar tales and trend pieces, like the struggle of refugees in a Baltimore high school, or how the century-long history of a vacant house—which collapsed and killed a man—told the story of our city.

The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Republic is the largest news outlet in the Southwest, primarily covering Arizona and, more specifically, the sprawling Metro Phoenix area (pop. 4.8 million). We lead the USA Today Network's coverage of the western US and are the flagship local newsroom of Gannett Co., Inc.'s 109 sites. The Republic's mission has been the same for 129 years: Connect and educate readers by providing fair and accurate coverage that reflects our community.

Anchorage Daily News

The Anchorage Daily News is the most-read newspaper and news site in Alaska. In 2017, the organization was purchased by an Alaska family with an interest in keeping the newspaper alive. The business turned around—by controlling costs, growing revenue, with a continued shift online, and especially, continued newsroom transformation that has emphasized producing quality journalism, serving audiences where they are, and adapting to changing platforms and reader habits and needs. Partnerships of all kinds have become critical for us.

Akron Beacon Journal

The Akron Beacon Journal provides comprehensive news coverage primarily for Summit and Stark counties in post-industrial Northeast Ohio. We frequently publish deep-dive enterprise reports on a wide variety of topics. These newsroom also leads the joint news efforts of GateHouse Media in Northeast Ohio, which includes numerous other daily media sites and weekly publications. Overall, GateHouse serves 10 counties in Northeast Ohio and a population of 1.2 million residents. We also work closely with GateHouse’s Columbus Dispatch for Statehouse and regional news coverage.

100 Days in Appalachia

100 Days in Appalachia is a digital news publication born the day after the 2016 election in response to the national narrative that reduced our region to a handful of narrow stories. Our mission is to share the diverse stories of the 13 states that make up this region, which stretches from the Rust Belt to the Black Belt, by working with local voices to apply a cultural lens to what’s happening in our backyards and share what that means for the rest of the world.

Zachary Podmore

Zak is a journalist and film producer who has covered rural Utah politics, public lands and conservation issues for Outside Online, Sierra, Four Corners Free Press, Canoe & Kayak and the Huffington Post. In early 2019, he revived a local newspaper in southeast Utah, the Canyon Echo, which he edits. His writing has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Colorado chapter and Folio magazine. Zak has worked as a river ranger in Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. He has an M.F.A. in environmental nonfiction writing, and has written a book, “Confluence: Navigating the Personal and Political On Rivers of the New West.” Zak has lived in Utah’s San Juan County since 2015.

Wyatt Massey

Wyatt has covered religion, immigration and social services for the Frederick News-Post in Maryland. There and as a freelance writer, he has covered stories ranging from childhood malnutrition in Haiti to gentrification in Brooklyn to faith in rural Kansas to heroin and opioid addiction in Milwaukee. Massey was an O’Hare Fellow at America, a respected national Catholic magazine. As an intern at The Baltimore Sun, he covered crime, along with researching for and helping craft Justin George’s yearlong “Shoot to Kill” investigation of US gun homicide trends. Wyatt grew up on a family farm in Hollandale, Wisconsin and majored in English at Marquette University.

Victor L. Rodriguez-Velazquez

Victor has been a journalism professor and freelance reporter in Puerto Rico. He started his career at the Metro Puerto Rico, where he covered business, the economy and entrepreneurship. When he joined Universidad Ana G. Méndez & Universidad del Sagrado Corazón as a professor—teaching journalism, communication theory, and multimedia production—he also took over as acting director of Diálogo UPR, the official newspaper of the University of Puerto Rico. In this role, he coordinated and supervised editorial projects and was responsible for increasing audience across digital platforms. More recently, he has worked as a freelance investigative reporter for Centro de Periodismo Investigativo de Puerto Rico. Victor earned a B.A. in journalism and M.A. in communications from the University of Puerto Rico.  

Shirley L. Smith

Shirley L. Smith is an investigative journalist with experience covering topics ranging from the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other health care issues to criminal justice, natural disasters, education, municipal government and a myriad of social issues.  She is one of 61 reporters who was selected to cover under-covered communities and issues across the country as part of the Report for America program, a national public service program dedicated to local journalism. Prior to joining MCIR, Shirley worked as a freelance writer for several years.  She also worked as a full-time reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Virgin Islands Daily News, The Telegraph and The South Fulton Neighbor.  Her work has also been featured in numerous other publications and news sites including The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi Today, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, HealthQuest magazine, Spinal Column magazine, Women’s eNews and MedHelp.org. She has also taught journalism at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. Shirley earned her master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She also had a stint as a gubernatorial speechwriter, and as a public relations executive and consultant.

Savannah Maher

Savannah has been a producer for NPR’s midday show “Here & Now,” where her work explored everything from Native peoples’ fraught relationship with the American elections to the erosion of press freedoms for tribal media outlets. A proud citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, Savannah got her start in journalism reporting for her hometown’s local newspaper, The Mashpee Enterprise, and public radio station, WCAI. She has since contributed to New Hampshire Public Radio, High Country News, and NPR’s Code Switch blog. She graduated from Dartmouth College.