2025-2026

Sarah Hopkins

Prior to joining Open Vallejo, Hopkins was a reporting fellow at Inside Climate News, where she wrote feature stories on environmental justice, and an editorial intern at FRONTLINE, where she assisted with the production of long-form investigative documentaries. She previously worked as an investigator, writer and editor for public interest legal organizations, including the ACLU. Inspired by the intersections of science, law and public policy, she completed a master’s in science journalism at MIT. She is the recipient of the Taylor/Blakeslee University Fellowship from the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and MIT’s S. Klein Prize for Scientific Writing for the Public. She was raised in a bilingual family in California, is fluent in Spanish and is a proud graduate of California public schools.

Kevin Lee Wurm

Prior to joining MLK50 as a visual storyteller, Kevin Wurm worked as a Tennessee-based freelance photographer who weaves portraiture, journalism, and documentary storytelling to elevate overlooked stories and the people who tell them. Wurm's images are guided by empathy and purpose, capturing moments that reveal deeper truths. Self-taught and driven by a strong desire to grow, his journey has led to work featured in Reuters, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more.

Arizona PBS

Arizona PBS, based at Arizona State University since 1961, serves over one million weekly viewers with educational children's programming, in-depth news, lifelong learning, and arts and culture. Reaching over 80% of Arizonans via translators, cable, and satellite, it ranks among the nation’s most-watched public TV stations per capita. Utilizing television, the Internet, outreach, and community initiatives, Arizona PBS is primarily funded by Arizonans, who contribute more than 60% of its annual budget.

Gale Melcher

Before joining The Assembly, Melcher covered local government and community issues in Greensboro and Winston-Salem for Triad City Beat, a tenacious alternative newspaper that served the Triad community for 11 years before closing in February 2025. During her two years with the publication, she wrote hundreds of stories and reported on a wide range of topics including public housing, homelessness, policing, activism, elections and transit, producing in-depth, people-centered pieces. In January 2023, she wrote an investigative piece for Triad City Beat about Greensboro’s Pallet shelters, which remains the website’s most-viewed article. In 2024, Melcher earned a second place award from the North Carolina Press Association for her city/county government reporting, and has a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from North Carolina State University.

inewsource

inewsource is a nonprofit newsroom serving San Diego since 2009 with investigative reporting that safeguards community interests and holds power to account. Through its signature Documenters program, inewsource trains and pays community members to attend public meetings and take notes. inewsource prioritizes innovation, including interactive and illustrated storytelling across platforms, and is the only local member of the Trust Project. Through various media partners, inewsource publishes its journalism on the web, social media, radio and television for local, state and national audiences.

WUSF

WUSF is the NPR station for the Tampa Bay region; we are committed to providing accurate, honest journalism that helps the public understand the community and the world. Our journalists are independent, curious, and respectful. As a newsroom, we are committed to listening and engaging with the community to provide journalism that reflects the place we call home. This addition to the newsroom will be supported by the entire team as well as two senior editors who can guide and coach this new talent.

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

At the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, our mission is to provide the news and information people in southeast Washington need to make informed decisions about their health, safety and economic well-being. Our 11 journalists deliver news via unionbulletin.com, a three-day print newspaper and social media. We are part of The Seattle Times Co., which believes decisions about the U-B and local are best made by the people who live and work here in the community.

Verite News

Verite News, a Black-led, nonprofit newsroom, was founded in 2022 by two veterans of the Times-Picayune, Terry Baquet and David Francis. Verite has a two-fold mission: to use the power of journalism to expose and dismantle inequities that affect vulnerable populations and to educate the next generation of journalists through our news fellowship program.

The Texas Tribune

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, digital-first news organization that informs and engages with Texans on public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. This news organization's site provides vital information and news to millions of Texans for free, and its journalism is distributed through more than 60 statewide media partners to local outlets. Partnerships with platforms including ProPublica, Apple News, and SmartNews put its content before a nationwide audience.

The Salt Lake Tribune

The Salt Lake Tribune is Utah’s largest daily newspaper, founded as an alternative voice in 1871. From air quality to cultural trends to analysis of the Utah Jazz, the news organization’s goal is to inform, enlighten and empower Utahns with news they can trust. The Salt Lake Tribune is Utah’s leader in accountability journalism and investigative reporting, consistently pushing for access, open records and transparency through requests, appeals, legislation and, when necessary, litigation.