Louisiana

Delaney Dryfoos

Delaney Dryfoos covers environmental news in New Orleans, Louisiana for The Lens, a nonprofit digital newsroom. Prior to joining The Lens, Dryfoos reported on climate change resiliency in New York City for Inside Climate News. She holds a master's degree in science, health and environmental journalism from New York University, where she worked as the managing editor for Scienceline and an editorial intern at Living on Earth. As a college intern for NJ Advance Media, Dryfoos covered news across New Jersey and their story about South Orange's rainbow lampposts was republished by U.S. News and World Report. She is passionate about reporting on the intersection of health and the environment as well as working to make journalism more inclusive of disabled and LGBTQ+ sources and reporters. She studied biology, global health, policy journalism and media studies at Duke University.

The Lens

The Lens is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public-interest digital newsroom, dedicated to investigative and explanatory journalism. Its mission is to educate, engage and empower the people of New Orleans by providing the information and analysis necessary to advocate for more accountable and just governance. The Lens grew out of a citizen journalist’s drive to track demolitions after Hurricane Katrina.

Stephen Marcantel

Stephen Marcantel works at the Acadiana Advocate in Lafayette, Louisiana, covering the news coverage gaps facing rural Acadiana, the surrounding parishes of Lafayette. He graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2022 with a bachelor's in mass communications. Since then, he has worked as a freelancer at the Acadiana Advocate covering various business and life stories. He also freelanced for the nonprofit online newspaper The Current in Lafayette. Marcantel has covered stories of mothers losing their children to fentanyl and fighting for change, food insecurity facing the poorest in our community, the lack of shelter space for those experiencing homelessness in Lafayette, and Lafayette's struggle to clean up the Vermilion River.

The Acadiana Advocate

The Advocate is Louisiana's largest daily newspaper, serving the cities of Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Lafayette with an average daily circulation of just under 100,000 and an online audience of 20 million page views per month. In 2019, the Lafayette staff was expanded, doubling in size, to reflect the company’s commitment to local journalism in South Louisiana. Our newsroom covers the parishes of Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, Iberia, Vermilion, Acadia and Evangeline.

Joni Hess

Joni Hess covers the quickly developing communities of St. Tammany Parish for The Times- Picayune and The Advocate, a news organization in New Orleans. Hess is a native of New Orleans, which sits on the south shore of St. Tammany. Previously, she was a U.S. reporting fellow for a global media organization, openDemocracy, where she covered the imprisonment of Cameroon asylum seekers, discrepancies in Black maternal health care, and infringements on women and LGBTQI rights. As a freelancer, Hess received a reporting grant from New America to cover the lack of access to paid leave policies for families. Her feature appeared in The Lily, a publication of The Washington Post. Hess graduated from Xavier University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and went on to earn a master’s in social work.

Joshua Rosenberg

Joshua Rosenberg covers the environmental beat for The Lens, a nonprofit digital newsroom based in New Orleans, where he reports on storm surges, hurricanes, and the continuing disappearance of wetlands. Prior to joining The Lens, Rosenberg reported on federal tax policy for the legal newswire Law360, tracking down stories in the halls of Congress before moving into a more features-oriented role. As a 2014 Teach For America corps member, he taught high school history in Indianapolis. Rosenberg hails from Roxbury, New Jersey, and he earned his undergraduate degree in history and secondary education from William Paterson University, and holds a master’s degree in public affairs from Brown University.

Lara Nicholson

Lara Nicholson covers the Florida Parishes in southeast Louisiana for The Advocate, one of Louisiana’s largest publications. A recent graduate of Louisiana State University, Nicholson holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science, and was editor-in-chief of The Reveille, the student-run paper. She is a native of Baton Rouge, and has interned twice at The Advocate. Her reporting has taken her to the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, where she spent three days covering the escape of Cara, a 12-foot, 100-pound albino Burmese python, who snuck out of her aquarium in the middle of the night.

The Times-Picayune and The Advocate

The Advocate is Louisiana’s largest daily newspaper, serving the cities of Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, and their surrounding regions. The Advocate is committed to providing comprehensive coverage of local news, City Hall, the state house, politics, business, environment and other areas of general interest for our readers, in print and online. With a news and editorial staff of approximately 105 reporters, editors, designers, photographers and digital journalists, The Advocate is the largest daily newspaper in New Orleans and the only print news outlet committed to covering all aspects of the city.  

The Times-Picayune and The Advocate

The Advocate is Louisiana’s largest daily newspaper, serving the cities of Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, and their surrounding regions. The Advocate is committed to providing comprehensive coverage of local news, City Hall, the state house, politics, business, environment and other areas of general interest for our readers, in print and online. With a news and editorial staff of approximately 105 reporters, editors, designers, photographers and digital journalists, The Advocate is the largest daily newspaper in New Orleans and the only print news outlet committed to covering all aspects of the city.  

The Lens

The Lens is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public-interest digital newsroom, dedicated to investigative and explanatory journalism. Its mission is to educate, engage and empower the people of New Orleans by providing the information and analysis necessary to advocate for more accountable and just governance. The Lens grew out of a citizen journalist’s drive to track demolitions after Hurricane Katrina.