Maryland

Olivia Bensimon

Olivia Bensimon covers Baltimore County for The Baltimore Banner. Prior to this role, she was a freelance journalist specializing in people-centered reporting on topics such as immigration, breaking news, protests, court cases, and local happenings. A longtime New York reporter, she has written for a variety of news outlets like The New York Times, Hell Gate, Crain’s New York Business, and City Limits. She previously roamed the streets for both of the city’s tabloids and cut her teeth as a runner at the New York Post. In 2025, she won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York for a local feature she wrote for The New York Times about an asylum-seeking family from Guinea. She is a graduate of New York University and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

The Baltimore Banner

The Baltimore Banner is a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit newsroom founded to bring high-quality local journalism to the Baltimore metro area. We are creating a vibrant, strong, trustworthy, and sustainable news organization, seeking to re-imagine the future of local news. Using a multi-platform news operation, covering a broad range of topics from local government to culture and the arts. We tell stories that reflect the community, connecting neighbors, holding government institutions accountable and making sense of the world. All this work is grounded in truth. We believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Baltimore, surrounding counties and state of Maryland.

Kori Skillman

Kori Skillman specializes in investigative journalism and visual storytelling. Before joining the Baltimore Beat, she worked on ABC News’ assignment desk, covering breaking news and editing live broadcasts. She also produced video and social media content at McClatchy Publishing. Her passion for social justice reporting—rooted in lived experience—grew during her investigative fellowship in Vermont, where she broke stories on police accountability, including a mishandled 911 call for VTDigger and unethical officer moonlighting for SevenDays. Kori also worked in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office under Alvin Bragg and in the San Diego County D.A.’s Office, covering trials and assisting with media communications. She has written for Black Voice News, focusing on COVID-19’s impact on Black Californians. A Bay Area native, Kori holds a dual B.A. in Journalism and International Business from San Diego State University, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, and an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School. She aspires to cover global conflicts.

Maria Eberhart

Maria Eberhart covers Maryland’s rural-urban digital divide for Technical.ly. Before joining Report for America, Eberhart worked as an editorial assistant at Pitchfork, handling administrative responsibilities alongside pitching album reviews. She also previously interned at the Baltimore Sun, where she covered breaking news and wrote feature stories about Charm City’s art scene. Eberhart graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2023.

Baltimore Beat

Baltimore Beat is a Black-led, nonprofit newspaper dedicated to serving Baltimore's diverse communities with in-depth, community-focused journalism. Through initiatives like Beat Boxes and comprehensive election coverage, it engages youth voters, amplifies underrepresented voices, and tackles issues like police reform and social justice. With community outreach and impactful storytelling, it's committed to providing journalism that drives civic engagement and inspires change.

Technical.ly

Technical.ly connects and challenges a community of technologists and entrepreneurs invested in where they live. Founded in 2009, this newsroom reports in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Delaware, DC and Pittsburgh, with a mission to cover the intersections of the tech economy, entrepreneurship and equity. It emphasizes accessible, non-paywalled coverage that serves as a bridge between the tech sector and underserved communities.

Bri Hatch

Bri Hatch covers education disparities in Baltimore, Maryland for WYPR 88.1, the local NPR station. Before joining the WYPR team, Hatch reported on college student well-being and diversity initiatives for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and rural Virginia education tensions for the Rockbridge Report. Hatch earned a Hearst feature writing award for their 2022 Chronicle of Higher Education story detailing the twisty journey of a donated 'Wizard of Oz' dress. Hatch served as the editor-in-chief of their college newspaper, The Ring-tum Phi, and investigated contentious Title IX policies and hazing allegations among a wide variety of other topics. They earned a degree from Washington and Lee University in journalism and American politics, with a minor in poverty and human capability studies. Outside of the newsroom, Hatch is an avid concert-lover, a longtime runner, and a cozy coffee shop enthusiast.

Daniel Zawodny

Daniel Zawodny covers transportation in Baltimore and its surrounding communities for The Baltimore Banner. Before joining The Banner, Daniel covered immigration and immigrant issues at the local, national and international levels as an independent journalist while working in the field of immigration law. He is fluent in Spanish and bachata and would really like to pet your dog.

WYPR 88.1

WYPR is Baltimore’s NPR news station and has served the community for nearly 20 years. WYPR is committed to covering a diverse community. Its mission is to inform, connect and even challenge listeners in the metro area, and across the state via signals in Frederick and Ocean City, Maryland, by broadcasting programs of intellectual integrity and cultural merit. In 2021, it won several of the industry’s highest journalism awards.

The Baltimore Banner

The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism is a nonprofit organization founded in the summer of 2021 to bring high-quality local news to the Baltimore metro area. The news landscape has witnessed fundamental transformations resulting in a dramatic loss of capacity in local news. In June 2022, it launched The Baltimore Banner with a mission to be an indispensable resource that strengthens, unites and inspires our communities. We will accomplish this through trustworthy quality journalism that tells the varied stories of our people, holds our leaders accountable, and delivers local news that readers are willing to support.