2020-2021

Centro de Periodismo Investigativo

Founded in 2007, the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) is an independent, non-profit organization promoting news and information access in Puerto Rico through investigative journalism, litigation and journalism training. The CPI is the only entity of its kind in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean dedicated to investigative journalism. Our journalists have produced hundreds of stories on issues such as political corruption, the financing of electoral campaigns, public policy issues in areas such as health, the economy, the environment, education, agriculture and crime, as well as the ways in which private groups benefit from government mismanagement. Published in both Spanish and English, CPI’s work has received more than 30 awards from professional journalism associations in Puerto Rico and abroad.

The Buffalo Bulletin

The Buffalo Bulletin is a weekly print and online newspaper that has served Johnson County, Wyoming since 1884. The newspaper of record, we are family-owned and publish local news exclusively. Each week, The Bulletin publishes news that affects its community members, including coverage of local governing boards, school events, prep sports, economics, industry and politics as well as a weekly editorial and other commentary on their opinion page. The Buffalo Bulletin is the definitive source for news and information in Johnson County.

The Desert Sun

The Desert Sun is a small but mighty newsroom covering the Coachella Valley in Southern California. The Desert Sun is known for its groundbreaking environmental coverage, extensive arts reporting and watchdog journalism. The paper has won numerous awards, including an Edward R. Murrow award for a short film, “Freed But Forgotten: A Proposition 47 Investigation.” As a member of the USA Today network, its reporting regularly also appears in USA Today and 100+ other Gannett Co. papers. In addition to local news coverage, The Desert Sun produces a magazine, DESERT; a music festival called Tachevah; and a community storytelling series.

The Fresno Bee

The Fresno Bee is the primary news source for the central San Joaquin Valley, covering a six-county area that is one of the fastest-growing regions in California. The Fresno Bee’s website is the most-visited website in the region, and its mission is to inform and advocate for the enhancement of life in the Valley.

The Mercury News

The Mercury News is the leading source of breaking news, local news, sports, business, entertainment, lifestyle and opinion for Silicon Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

The Modesto Bee

The Modesto Bee, a McClatchy news organization, serves primarily the city of Modesto, Stanislaus County, and its surrounding cities and counties in the heart of California’s Central Valley and the Sierra foothills. The Bee has a rich, 134-year history of serving a diverse community built on agriculture with an eye on diversifying employment sectors in hopes of fending off the “brain drain” that sees many of our youngest and brightest leave for college and never return. Our mission is to connect with readers each day to discover and report on the issues that touch their lives.

The Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee is the only daily newspaper covering California’s capital city. At 161 years old, the news organization is McClatchy’s flagship. The newspaper’s coverage area extends along the I-80 corridor from Lake Tahoe to the East and up to but not necessarily including the Bay Area. The newspaper covers northern California regularly as well as Stockton. In Sacramento, readers expect The Sacramento Bee to hold elected officials at the statehouse to account, and they rely on the newspaper for deep environmental coverage in addition to local government and growth.

Amelia Ferrell Knisely

Amelia covers poverty in southern West Virginia for the Mountain State Spotlight. Previously she covered education and children’s issues for The Tennessean in Nashville. She has written extensively about homelessness and poverty, and she previously served as editor of The Contributor, a nonprofit newspaper sold by people experiencing homelessness. Her writing on the plight of migrant tomato farmers was nominated for an international news award. Originally from West Virginia, Amelia started her journalism career as a television reporter in her hometown. She holds a B.A. from Shepherd University in West Virginia and a master’s degree from Marshall University.  

Becky Dernbach

Becky Z. Dernbach reports for Sahan Journal, a news organization in Minnesota’s capital, St. Paul, that focuses on the state’s immigrants. Dernbach focuses her reporting on the education of Hmong, Somali, Latino and other immigrant students. Until recently she was an editorial fellow in the San Francisco office of Mother Jones, where she reported on labor and health care issues and fact-checked stories for the magazine and web. She graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School in 2019. While at Medill, she was a research assistant for the Chicago Tribune and published an investigation on Medicaid backlogs in the Chicago Sun-Times. Dernbach grew up outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and now calls Minneapolis home. Before she entered journalism, she worked in communications in the Twin Cities focused on racial justice issues. She’s also worked as a substitute teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Dernbach is the author of a rhyming picture book about the 2008 foreclosure crisis, Fannie and Freddie.

Laurel Demkovich

Laurel Demkovich reports for The Spokesman-Review based in Spokane, Washington, and covers the Washington Legislature and state government. After graduating from Indiana University in May 2019, Demkovich completed an internship at The Washington Post where she covered cops and courts for the Post’s local desk. Demkovich also completed internships at the Tampa Bay Times and the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Massachusetts, covering local government, breaking news, and general assignments. While at Indiana University, Demkovich served as managing editor of the school’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student. She has won several awards for her writing from the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Indiana Collegiate Press Association named her Brook Baker Collegiate Journalist of the Year in 2019. She also won first place in feature writing from The Hearst Journalism Awards Program.