2022-2023

Ashad Hajela

Ashad Hajela covers rural affairs for Spotlight PA, a collaborative nonprofit newsroom that reports stories across Pennsylvania. Prior to this, Hajela was a Stabile Investigative Fellow at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he investigated how parolees’ complaints are handled by the New York corrections system. Hajela started his career at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, covering protests following George Floyd’s killing, and the pandemic’s impact on jails and prisons. His reporting on Raleigh’s high-crime motels earned a top award from the North Carolina Press Association. Hajela also speaks Hindi and Spanish, and when he’s not working you’ll find him out trying new restaurants or taking dance classes.

Claire Savage

Claire Savage reports for The Associated Press in Chicago, covering institutions serving young people in Illinois and investigating how well they help youth. Before joining the AP, Savage reported on online disinformation, with an emphasis on inaccurate Covid-19 and vaccine claims, for Agence France-Presse in Washington, D.C. Savage was an intern at NBC Washington/Telemundo and completed a fellowship with Atlantic Media. She holds a master's degree in international journalism from American University and a bachelor's degree in Spanish and international business from Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned All-American honors in swimming. Savage grew up outside Cleveland, Ohio, and returns frequently to visit her family and favorite ice cream shop.

Gabe Stern

Gabe Stern covers state legislature and midterm elections in Nevada for The Associated Press. Before joining the AP, he reported for the Tampa Bay Times and ABC News as an intern. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, where he spent much of 2020 and 2021 covering COVID-19 in New York prisons for The Daily Orange, the student-run newspaper. His investigative reporting won first place in the Hearst Journalism Awards. Stern has also interned at Florida’s Naples Daily News and the News-Press in Fort Myers. In his free time he loves exploring new cities and trails.

Jake Shore

Jake Shore covers criminal justice in Savannah and coastal Georgia for The Current, a nonprofit news outlet based in Savannah. Prior to joining The Current, Shore worked as a senior writer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette papers near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, covering breaking news, crime, courts and police. He reported on the Murdaugh saga, police misconduct and crime trends, and did a series on the rise of drivers suspended for being unable to pay their back traffic tickets. The series won several South Carolina Press Association awards in 2021. Shore graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx, where he got his start in journalism working as a radio reporter for the NPR-affiliate station WFUV. He hails from sunny California and misses In-N-Out Burger. In his free time, Shore runs and likes to read fiction. He’s currently seeking recommendations for fantasy and sci-fi novels.

Joseph Cappelletti

Joey Cappelletti is the state government reporter for The Associated Press in Lansing, Michigan. Before joining the AP, he was a reporter at two newspapers in central and eastern Oregon, where he wrote multiple investigative pieces that were published throughout the state. Cappelletti holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in international studies from the University of Oregon. While there, he was an opinion writer for the student paper, and hosted a radio show, interviewing local musicians, leaders and athletes.

Leonardo March

Leonardo March is a multimedia journalist for The Haitian Times, a news outlet based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers the Haitian diaspora in New York City and beyond, through videos, photos, graphics and words. Previously, March contributed to The Haitian Times, reporting on Haitian asylum seekers in Del Rio, Texas and in Tapachula, Mexico. Holding a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, he is interested in working on stories about how migrants and workers resist and transform the economic and political forces that often are organized against them.

Michael Loria

Michael Loria reports for the Chicago Sun-Times, covering the South and West sides of the city. Before moving to Chicago, Loria was a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C., where he covered undocumented restaurant workers for Washington City Paper, and child care for undocumented workers, housing for older adults and more for The Washington Post. In 2020, his feature on cottage industries that undocumented workers had established to survive the pandemic became one of the most-read Washington City Paper stories of the year; his reporting on food truck turf wars was an editor’s choice for one of the best Washington City Paper stories of 2021. Loria is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Riley Rogerson

Riley Rogerson is based in Washington, D.C. and covers Alaska's congressional delegation for the Anchorage Daily News. Prior to joining the ADN, Rogerson was earning her bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University with majors in history and government. Her love of journalism started as a reporter for Georgetown’s student newspaper, The Hoya, where she worked her way up to editor-in-chief. Rogerson has interned for her hometown paper, the Bucks County Courier Times in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, covering police, politics, preschools and more. She has also reported for Philadelphia magazine, the Investigative Reporting Workshop and Public Health Watch.

Sophie Austin

Sophie Austin covers the California Statehouse for The Associated Press in Sacramento. Before joining the AP, Austin was a data fellow at The Center for Public Integrity while earning a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs at American University. She has covered local and environmental news as an intern for The Dallas Morning News, and as an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow at PolitiFact, she wrote political fact checks and climate policy stories ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from American University, where she was editor-in-chief of the Eagle, the student-run newspaper.

Ashley Miznazi

Ashley Miznazi covers the Haitian community in the South Florida/Miami area for The Haitian Times, a news organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Previously, Miznazi was a multimedia fellow for The Texas Tribune, where she created short documentaries on Afghan resettlement and the foster care system. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Miznazi worked in the photo and video departments at the student paper, The Daily Texan. She is the host of “Darkness,” a podcast about the 2018 Austin bombings.