WRITING

Michael J. Collins

Michael J. Collins covers K-12 and higher education in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for Bowling Green Daily News' daily print publication. Collins sees public education as essential to a healthy democracy and believes it often goes under appreciated. Prior to working at BGDN, he attended Western Kentucky University and worked at its school newspaper, the College Heights Herald. Starting his first year with no prior experience, Collins went from general reporting to Editor-in-Chief by junior year, earning the paper two Pacemaker awards in 2022. His first print publication as Editor-in-Chief covered the devastation brought on by Bowling Green's December 2021 tornadoes. He spent his summers working at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, covering general multimedia stories, at Louisville Public Media's WFPL radio station, writing and producing radio news segments, and at the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, exploring rising costs in Kentucky prison commissaries and judicial oversight laws. He graduated with a B.A. in journalism in 2023.

AL.com

AL.com is the largest digital news site in Alabama, and one of the nation’s largest local news sites. It is part of the Alabama Media Group, which also operates social brand “It’s a Southern Thing,” “This is Alabama,” “People of Alabama” and the millennial-focused news brand “Reckon.” Alabama Media Group is part of Advance Local. Content for AL.com comes from three Advance Local newspapers: The Mobile Press Register, Birmingham News, Huntsville Times. The staff includes 75 reporters, editors, social producers and videographers.

Telegraph Herald

The Telegraph Herald news site and paper, published six days a week, is the nearly-exclusive news source in the Dubuque tri-state area (Dubuque, Iowa sits on the border of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin). Its mission is to connect the community with high quality journalism, and as a locally-and independently-owned news organization, it takes its role in the community seriously.

Dallas Free Press

Dallas Free Press, a nonprofit news site, launched in January 2020 with the mission of amplifying voices and exploring solutions to the city’s systemic inequities. It focuses community journalism efforts on three zip codes in South Dallas and West Dallas, which are predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, respectively.

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.

InvestigateWest

InvestigateWest is a nonprofit news organization founded in 2009 that is dedicated to change-making investigative journalism for the Pacific Northwest. The Northwest-based newsroom covers a range of topics including the environment and climate change, health inequities, social justice, voting rights and government accountability. Our reporting appears on our website and is regularly republished by 15 news outlets across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. We also frequently partner with national publications including The Washington Post, The Atlantic and The Guardian.

The Dallas Morning News

Founded in 1885, the Dallas Morning News is Texas’ leading news organization and is the winner of nine Pulitzer Prizes. It has one of the largest newsrooms in the Southwest. In 2015, the DMN was in the first group of news organizations to go through a digital transformation initiative known as Table Stakes, launched by the Knight Foundation and Temple University. Since then, the DMN has been a leader in digital innovation among local news organizations. The News’ mission is “making our communities stronger and more prosperous through quality journalism and innovative marketing solutions.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch

The Iowa Capital Dispatch is a hard-hitting, independent news organization dedicated to connecting Iowans to their state government and its impact on their lives. The Capital Dispatch combines state government coverage with relentless investigative journalism, deep dives into the consequences of policy, political insight, and principled commentary. The Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. It retains full editorial independence.

The Land

The Land was created in 2020 to report on Cleveland’s neighborhoods, economy and local government, delivering in-depth stories that foster accountability, inform the community, and inspire people to take action. This nonprofit started with a free website and a newsletter, and today it has built a diverse board, fostered community partnerships, welcomed thousands of subscribers, created an internship program and reporting fellowship for journalists of color, and published hundreds of stories.

KUCB

KUCB is a public radio and television station in Unalaska, Alaska. We are owned and operated by Unalaska Community Broadcasting, a non-profit formed in 1985 with the mission to inform, educate, entertain, and engage by providing news and arts and culture programming. Our signal serves a community of about 5,000 people. Our stories, however, have a much broader reach: We’re surrounded by some of the most productive fishing grounds in the country, and we’re in the middle of an international shipping corridor. Our station is located in the Aleutian Islands, the ancestral territories of the Unangax Peoples, who have lived in this region more than 9,000 years. Our newsroom is staffed with two local reporters, and they cover stories from all over our thousand-mile region.