Georgia

Mirtha Donastorg

Mirtha Donastorg reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is a journalist with experience in TV, digital and radio, and was most recently an associate producer at CNN Digital where she helped curate multiple homepage platforms, as well as craft breaking news alerts viewed by millions daily. As a researcher for CNN, Donastorg fact-checked scripts from correspondents all over the globe and most notably, reported on the conviction of an abusive Catholic priest. Outside of work, she shares her love of soul music from around the world as a host of a weekly two-hour local radio show. Donastorg grew up in Auburn, Alabama. She’s a proud alumna of North Carolina State University, and is fluent in Spanish and French.

Lucille Lannigan

Lucille Lannigan covers rural communities in Southwest, Georgia, for the Albany Herald. She was born and mostly raised in Key West, Florida, and served as co editor-in-chief at the newspaper of the island's only high school. In 2022, Lannigan interned on CBS-affiliate 10 Tampa Bay’s digital desk, where she covered topics like Florida's changing abortion laws and mastered the art of creating digital news content. During her senior year at the University of Florida, Lannigan worked as a Pulitzer fellow, covering Florida’s phosphate industry and producing an accountability feature on Florida’s reclaimed mining lands. Lannigan wrote investigative and political content on Florida’s 2023 legislative session for WUFT's Fresh Take Florida. Her byline has appeared in the Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Times, Tallahassee Democrat, and more. Her love for journalism stems from her time at The Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida's independent, student-run paper. Over two years, she reported on race, equity, health and the environment and served as the metro desk editor. She graduated in 2023 with a journalism bachelor's degree from the university.

Albany Herald

The Albany Herald is Albany’s longest-serving news organization, covering news, sports and features in the metro area and southwest Georgia, and providing commentary forums with its editorial page and social media sites. Founded in 1891 and located in the heart of Albany, The Herald and its website, albanyherald.com, combine to provide a widely read and seen forum for news, advertising and entertainment.

Donovan Thomas

Donovan Thomas is a health reporter covering the long-term effects of the pandemic in Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A recent graduate of Howard University, Thomas studied journalism and Spanish, was editor-in-chief of the student paper and president of the student chapter of The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. He has interned on The Washington Post’s metro desk, The New York Times’ investigations desk, and the metro desk at The Charlotte Observer. Thomas was a ProPublica Emerging Reporter in 2021-22, and a White House Correspondents’ Association Scholar. He still enjoys reading the broadsheet newspaper and hard copies of books, and loves cooking, ballet, “Jeopardy!,” and the Saints.

DorMiya Vance

DorMiya Vance is a multimedia reporter for WABE, the NPR and PBS affiliate serving metro Atlanta. A recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the communications and media program at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, Vance was editor-in-chief of the student paper, The Voice, and has interned at The Fayetteville Observer. Vance says that she knew at an early age that she wanted to work as a writer, and she is passionate about telling stories.

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.

Nikolai Mather

Nikolai Mather reports on social justice for the Athens Banner-Herald in Athens, Georgia. Previously, he was a staff writer at Queen City Nerve, covering local government, social justice and workers’ rights in Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 2021 as a Levine Scholar at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where he studied Southern history and political science and was the opinion editor of the student paper. In 2019, Mather was awarded a fellowship through Humanity in Action, an international nonprofit, to study genocide in Berlin, Germany. He has worked in Norway, France and the United Kingdom, but calls Pittsboro, North Carolina home.

Sofia Gratas

Sofia Gratas is the rural health care reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Macon, Georgia. She started working in public radio as an intern with NPR-affiliate station WUGA in Athens, Georgia, and later interned with Georgia Public Broadcasting. A graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in ecology, Gratas worked at the student-run paper, The Red & Black, in multiple roles covering local government, crime, economics and food and drink.

Timothy Pratt

Timothy Pratt chronicles the long-term effects of the pandemic on Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, focusing on communities—demographic and geographic—that have suffered the most and will likely face the greatest challenges moving forward. Pratt has reported for the last 25 years, in English and Spanish, from Latin America and the U.S. on immigration, education, elections and voter suppression, race and more. His work has appeared in dozens of outlets, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, AP and Reuters. He has been a National Health Journalism Fellow, an Education Writers Association Reporting Fellow, a Marguerite Casey Foundation Fellow, among others, and the recipient of various awards, including one from the National Association of Hispanic Publications for a series in Spanish on how immigrant communities in Las Vegas experienced the 2010 World Cup.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the largest newsroom in the city and has a mission to report what’s going on in the community. Its reporters uncover the truth, protect the public’s right to know, hold community leaders accountable for serving the public, and document the region’s moments, milestones and people. This news organization is owned by Cox Enterprises, a private, family owned company.