WRITING

Benjamin Simon

Benjamin Simon is a general assignment reporter focusing on Barry County for The Hastings Banner in Hastings, Michigan. His emphasis includes schools, local government, business, environment and health. He has previously held internships at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SLAM Magazine and the Riverfront Times. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in American Culture Studies and Writing from Washington University in St. Louis. As a section editor at the school newspaper, he won First Place in Feature Writing from the Missouri College Media Association for his story on a pop-up course exploring the broad ramifications of COVID. In his free time, he  likes to play basketball, listen to British rap and talk endlessly about his hometown of Philadelphia.

Ariama Long

Ariama C. Long is a reporter for the New York Amsterdam News in New York City, covering local politics, city council and city agencies. A born-and-raised Brooklynite, Long was a Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism fellow and worked as a multimedia reporter at PoliticsNY in Brooklyn. Her beat went beyond politics and elections, and included coverage of the arts and culture. She has interned as an audio reporter at WNYC, a public radio station, and at the Brooklyn-based Heritage Radio Network, a nonprofit radio station that focuses on food. Her favorite thing about being a journalist is the risk it takes to be informed, curious and brave. Long holds a master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York, and a bachelor's from Chestnut Hill College, where she double-majored in English literature and communications.

Dustin Bleizeffer

Dustin Bleizeffer covers the energy beat for WyoFile, a nonprofit public-interest news website based in Lander, Wyoming that reports on the state's people, places, and policies. Bleizeffer has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, a reporter and editor primarily covering Wyoming's energy industry, and a freelancer writing about the environment and rural life. Most recently he co-authored the “Reckoning in Coal Country” investigative series, published on WyoFile, the Energy News Network site, and as a book. Bleizeffer was communications director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, and beginning in 2010, he served as WyoFile's editor-in-chief for six years. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and communications from the University of Wyoming, and as a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, he examined how emerging technology can help reinvigorate news and democracy in the American West. Bleizeffer lives in Casper, Wyoming.

Karen Robinson-Jacobs

Karen Robinson-Jacobs is a business reporter for The St. Louis American, which covers the African American community in St. Louis, Missouri. This Chi-Town native has been chasing the big story for decades. Most recently she was a freelance journalist with the St. Louis American and NBCBLK.com, writing about issues of concern to African Americans. Robinson-Jacobs spent 15 years reporting for The Dallas Morning News, where she was part of the Pulitzer Prize finalist team lauded for coverage of the 2016 shooting spree that killed five police officers and injured nine others. Prior to that, she spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, helping to launch their website. A longtime Midwesterner, Robinson-Jacobs also worked at the Milwaukee Journal, where she was among the first African American editors.

Mirtha Donastorg

Mirtha Donastorg covers innovation and start-up initiatives at historically Black colleges and universities for The Plug, a news site based in Atlanta and devoted to Black tech trends, investigative stories and breaking news. 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.

Shaena Montanari

Shaena Montanari reports on health disparities in Arizona's rural communities for the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization. A scientist-turned-journalist, Montanari has been a freelancer since 2017, reporting on science and health. Her work has appeared in Popular Science, National Geographic, among others. She earned her Ph.D. in comparative biology from the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History in 2012. But after an AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Mass Media fellowship at National Geographic, Montanari switched from a career in paleontology to journalism. In addition to her freelance work, she was a Pulliam fellow at The Arizona Republic, and holds a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her hometown is Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Daniel Ackerman

Daniel Ackerman covers Massachusetts’ South Coast, including the port cities of New Bedford and Fall River, for NPR affiliate WCAI in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. His audio coverage of science and the environment has aired on NPR, “Marketplace” and “99% Invisible,” while his writing has appeared in Scientific American, National Geographic and The Washington Post.  Ackerman holds a Ph.D. in climate change ecology from the University of Minnesota. He has reported from the bottom of a sinkhole and interviewed former presidential candidates (though not at the same time).

Arturo Pineda

Arturo Pineda covers labor issues and workplace conditions in Charlotte and the Appalachian region for Carolina Public Press, a nonprofit investigative news outlet based out of Asheville, North Carolina. Pineda has worked for the Arts Paper, which explores the arts in and around New Haven, Connecticut, as a reporter covering primarily communities of color. Previously, Pineda interned at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reporting on low-income communities and racial inequality. Pineda earned a B.A. from Yale University, where they served as editor-in-chief of DOWN Magazine, a magazine by students of color. Pineda is originally from Johnston, South Carolina.

Elena Bruess

Elena Bruess covers drinking water issues and the environment for the San Antonio Express-News, focusing on development in Texas Hill country and the Edwards Aquifer. Previously, Bruess reported on national and international freshwater issues for Circle of Blue, a nonprofit environmental news organization. As a 2020 reporting fellow for the Pulitzer Center, she covered the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on a primarily Latino neighborhood in Chicago. Bruess has reported on culture, comedy and food as a freelancer. She grew up in Iowa and Greece, and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa's undergraduate writing program. Bruess earned a master's from the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, where she was awarded the Comer scholarship for environmental reporting.

Kate Stockrahm

Kate Stockrahm reports on local nonprofits and businesses for Flint Beat, a digital publication that’s focused on government accountability, solutions journalism and filling news gaps for the community of Flint, Michigan. Stockrahm holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Latin from the University of Michigan, and began her career as an event manager in Washington, D.C. before moving to New York City to earn her degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. There, she developed skills in audio and visual storytelling while covering everything from divisive police union endorsements and failing museum diversity initiatives to COVID-19’s impact on local comedy club culture and the future of nuclear fusion as an energy source. Originally hailing from Michigan, Stockrahm says that the only two people more excited about her return to the Great Lakes State are her mom and dad.