UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Five Berkeley Journalism alumni and one of our star multimedia lecturers are among the finalists for the 2024 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism!

Warm congratulations to Sarah Cahlan (’19) and multimedia Lecturer John Harden of the Washington Post, Caitlin Esch (’10) of Marketplace Business News, Robin Urevich (’09) of Capital & Main, Jeremy C.F. Lin (’16) of Bloomberg and Nazmul Ahasan (’23) of .

Alums and faculty named finalists for Gerald Loeb Awards for business reporting Five UC Berkeley Journalism alumni and one of our multimedia lecturers are among the finalists for the 2024 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. Sarah Cahlan (’19) and multimedia Lecturer John Harden were part of The Washington Post team named as finalists in the...

Kate Raphael's ('24) investigation into the confusion that often surrounds D.N.R.s, part of our Investigative Reporting Program's "Aging in America" series, is featured as a "Great Read" on the homepage of today's The New York Times.

Just terrific, public interest reporting. Bravo.

The SCAN Foundation

Doctors Saved Her Life. She Didn’t Want Them To. When her “do not resuscitate” order was ignored, Marie Cooper found herself in a painful situation she had hoped to avoid.

Listen to this riveting Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting audio doc — "A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided" — about a wealthy Utah politician who adopts a child from a Northern Cheyenne reservation.

The story is reported by our Investigative Reporting Program Managing Editor Bernice Yeung and alum Andrew Becker ('05) in collaboration with our Investigative Reporting Program.

How a Utah politician’s adoption of a Native child spurred a federal investigation A video leaks of a wealthy politician describing how he adopted a Native child, leading to outrage from the child’s biological family and members of her tribe.

The new podcast episode of Altered States — a production of PRX and the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics — is up! Producer Shaina Shealy had followed Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who gathered to drink ayahuasca to try to heal their collective trauma. What happened after the war began? The executive producer of Altered States is Malia Wollan ('08) and associate producer is Cassady Rosenblum ('18). Find Altered States wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

The Peace Seekers For the last couple of years, producer Shaina Shealy has been following Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who have been coming together to drink the psych

Jennifer Bjorhus, a 1993 graduate of the journalism school and longtime newspaper reporter, dies Jennifer Bjorhus, a 1993 graduate of the journalism school and longtime newspaper reporter, died Aug. 9 after a nine-month battle with glioblastoma.

North Gate Lunch Talks 2024! Alum Paula Lehman-Ewing ('10) returns to Berkeley Journalism to talk about her new book: Reimagining the Revolution about mass incarceration and abolition. Join us on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 12:15 pm in the LMC at North Gate Hall to kick off our fall series of North Gate Lunch Talks. RSVP for light lunch. North Atlantic Books UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare

Author Talk with Paula Lehman-Ewing ('10)   About Reimagining the Revolution FOUR STORIES OF ABOLITION, AUTONOMY, AND FORGING NEW PATHS IN THE MODERN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT These are the architects of the modern civil rights movement: Four profiles of revolutionary groups making change beyond protest. A radically different approach to susta...

Alum Bria Suggs ('24) — a Politics Podcast intern at
NPR this summer and a former student of Professor
Shereen Marisol Meraji in our extraordinary audio program —
recently produced a story about how more young Black voters are leaning Republican. Find Bria's stories here: https://npr.org/people/g-s1-11847/bria-suggs

The (NABJ) National Association of Black Journalists celebrated Berkeley Journalism Professor Lisa Armstrong and alums Corey Antonio Rose (’23) and Jason Samuels (’95) at the organization’s 2024 convention in Chicago.

We could not be prouder.

Alums and faculty honored in the National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Awards The National Association of Black Journalists celebrated Berkeley Journalism Professor Lisa Armstrong and alums Corey Antonio Rose (’23) and Jason Samuels (’95) at the organization’s 2024 convention in Chicago. The Salute to Excellence Awards — the only journalism competition in the United S...

The New York Times highlights the Bay Area's local news resurgence, thanks to the work of journalists like Emeritus Prof Lydia Chavez, who founded Mission Local while at UC Berkeley.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/16/technology/san-francisco-local-news-resurgence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DU4.ASYb.6PH8eoLP0rsh&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Our UC Berkeley Professor Shereen Marisol Meraji — former co-host of the award-winning NPR podcast Code Switch talks with The Associated Press: “The ability to code-switch and go into different communities ... it is a huge asset. And I think for people who are in competition with Kamala Harris, it’s also quite threatening.”

Analysis: Donald Trump questioning Kamala Harris' race shows he doesn't understand code-switching Kamala Harris and other politicians of color have often had to code-switch, to ensure vital information is delivered to voters and constituents with cultural resonance.

Our UC Berkeley Journalism alums Laura Fitzgerald ('24) and Max Harrison-Caldwell ('24) worked with Professor DavidBarstow and Local News Editor Christine Schiavo at our Investigative Reporting Program on this investigation in the
Los Angeles Times about charitable donations and in California. Congrats on the important story.

How campaign funds and charitable donations help Big Oil wield power in Sacramento In California's Democratic-controlled Legislature, more than a dozen environmental bills recently died amid heavy industry opposition.

Congratulations to the 5 Berkeley Journalism graduates nominated for : Jeffrey Plunkett, Violet Du Feng, Lauren Rosenfeld Capps, Rachel de Leon and Jason Spingarn-Koff!

https://journalism.berkeley.edu/news-documentary-award-nominations/

Please find a funding opportunity for documentary makers working on stories related to psychedelics! The Mycoskie-UC Berkeley Psychedelic Documentary Fellowship offers three $10k fellowships for short form docs by student filmmakers and two $25k fellowships for short or feature length doc projects.

The deadline to apply is October 15 https://fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/mycoskie/

Camera in hand, Berkeley professor chronicles this week's Republican National Convention - Berkeley News Ken Light, a documentary photojournalist, and two of his former students are jockeying for the best shots.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and Dean Geeta Anand has just announced that she will return to teaching and writing as a professor at Berkeley Journalism after her term ends in summer 2025. The search for a new dean will begin immediately.

Under Geeta’s leadership, the school has raised $50 million in gifts, pledges and public funding, including the largest philanthropic pledge in its history, doubled financial aid for incoming students and created the biggest state-funded program for local news in the country.

“She will do in five years what most people don’t do in ten,” said Emeritus Professor Lydia Chávez, founder of the Mission Local news site. “She makes you want to be part of something that’s bigger…”

Geeta Anand plans a return to teaching after five-year term as Berkeley Journalism’s dean Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Geeta Anand has decided to return to full-time teaching and writing after what’s been called a transformational term as dean of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, in which the school raised millions of dollars, including the largest philanthropic pledg...

Horizon: Changing who gets to be a journalist Driven by the motto Fiat Lux, Berkeley illuminates the world.

The summer issue of the Quarterly Newsletter From Dean Geeta Anand is out now! We could not be prouder of our beloved community.

UC Berkeley

Quarterly Newsletter From Dean Geeta Anand Dear Berkeley Journalism community: At the end of the day, we all want to know that our efforts mean something. Often people ask me: Does supporting a journalism student truly have an impact on journalism and bringing diversity to newsrooms? And if so, how? This question has been on my mind since st...

Congratulations Jon Phillips!

Jon Phillips Named Senior Assistant Dean and Chief Administrative Officer Berkeley Journalism today announced the promotion of Jon Phillips to Senior Assistant Dean and Chief Administrative Officer at Berkeley Journalism. In this capacity, Phillips will be the most senior staff member at the school and serve as the dean’s chief of staff. He will lead non-academic functi...

For the fifth straight year, the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is giving aspiring journalists from Contra Costa County an opportunity to hone their skills in the classroom and on the beat.

Applications are now being accepted for the Reporter-in-Residence program, part of the school’s initiatives to bring new voices into journalism and remove barriers to enter the field. The program, launched in 2020, is part of Dean Geeta Anand’s ambitious efforts to take the lid off who gets to be a journalist in this country.

The fellowships are open to Contra Costa County residents with a strong interest in journalism and a willingness to share their knowledge of the community with Berkeley Journalism students. No job experience or journalism training is required.

Up to two resident reporters will be selected. Each will receive a $2,000 stipend and one-on-one mentoring, as they learn fundamental reporting skills and apply them to a beat on Richmond Confidential. The reporters in residence will participate in an Introduction to Reporting class alongside Berkeley Journalism graduate students, which meets in person, from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays and Wednesdays on the UC Berkeley campus.

Interested in journalism? Consider joining us The Berkeley Journalism and CC Pulse are giving aspiring journalists an opportunity to hone their skills in the classroom and on the beat.

🎥 Alums JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey's stunning new documentary ‘The Strike’ highlights a historic non-violent uprising against longterm solitary confinement in a CA supermax prison. More than a dozen students & alumni contributed.

UC Berkeley

Alums JoeBill Muñoz and Lucas Guilkey produce 'The Strike' — highlighting historic uprising in a California supermax prison Amid the redwood trees on the California-Oregon border sits one of the most infamous prisons in United States history. Pelican Bay is a labyrinthine construction of solid cement blocks — a supermax prison — opened in 1989 and designed specifically for mass-scale solitary confinement. For decades...

In this issue of California Magazine, alum Francisco Martínezcuello writes a beautiful profile of alum and 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker.

The Bedrock of Good Journalism - Cal Alumni Association Bill Whitaker, 2024 Berkeley Alum of the Year, brings integrity to his storytelling. We dive into his journey from Cal to 60 minutes.

Where are they now? Video journalist Tanay Gokhale ('23) is a member of the first cohort of California Local News Fellows as a community reporter at India Currents, an award-winning, nonprofit ethnic media organization focused on the Indian American community in San Jose, CA. He reports on local happenings, attends conferences and concerts, and spotlights Indian-American artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs in the Bay Area through print features and short videos. His hometown? Nashik, India.

UC Berkeley

White House Correspondents’ Association scholars Negar Ajayebi ('25) and Coral Murphy Marcos ('24) attend annual dinner in Washington Alum Coral Murphy Marcos (’24) and student Negar Ajayebi (’25) were honored by the White House Correspondents’ Association at a celebration in Washington, DC in late April. Ajayebi was awarded the White House Correspondents’ Association college scholarship in 2024 alongside journalism studen...

2 UC faculty and 11 alumni awarded 2024 Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prizes, awarded May 6 by Columbia University, are among the most prestigious honors in journalism, literature and music composition.

Are you in the Washington DC-area? Join alums Tamara Keith and Ron Elving at NPR headquarters for a UC Berkeley Journalism Alum Meet-UP. RSVP by 5/17: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehO8GJc6lYUtmmEEIRSQfN_bH6HeDhzLZCjKfMR2FvniDQhA/viewform

🎓 Warmest congratulations to Berkeley Journalism's incredibly talented second cohort of first-generation college student Dean's Fellows: Bria Suggs, Emma Garcia, Celeste Hamilton Dennis and Jeremiah Rhodes, pictured from left to right with Dean Geeta Anand.

The initiative, which began in 2021 through private philanthropy, counters the widespread income and access disparity in newsrooms by providing guaranteed funding for tuition and fees for up to five students annually, depending on available resources, allowing them to graduate without the burdensome debt of their studies.

Join us for a screening of "Forty One" on 5/15, 6 to 8 pm, at Berkeley Journalism: 59 women fight their way through bootcamp and shatter societal expectations as they transform from teenage civilians to become the first female Marines trained on the West Coast. Join filmmakers Lisa Hornak(’19), Rafael Roy (’18) and Mallory Newman (’19) along with Kelin Verrette and Anna Kayes for a screening, Q&A, and reception. Watch the trailer, learn more, and RSVP.

Work in Progress Screening: Forty One Fifty-nine women fight their way through bootcamp, shattering societal expectations as they transform from teenage civilians into the first female Marines trained on the west coast. Alums Lisa Hornak (’19), Rafael Roy (’18) and Mallory Newman (’19) along with Kelin Verrette and Anna Kayes team...

🎓 Warmest congratulations to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2024!

As Dean Geeta Anand said in her commencement speech:
..So go out, dear class of 2024, in what are always uncertain times.

Be courageous.
Be creative.
Be committed to the path you have chosen to be a seeker and revealer of facts and truth.

Be committed not to revealing what you believe to be true, but to reaching beyond those you know or like or are comfortable being around to seek to find out what is really happening.

And using every ounce of creativity and passion to telling that story in the boldest, biggest way possible to have maximum impact in this deeply troubled yet incredibly beautiful world.

Photo: Walter Marino ('25) & Amin Muhammad ('25)

UC Berkeley

Congratulations to the Berkeley Journalism alumni honored in the 2023 Pulitzer Prizes. We could not be prouder at UC Berkeley.

Alumni honored in 2023 Pulitzer Prizes The work of three recent graduates are among those honored for distinguished journalism in the 2023 Pulitzer Prizes, Columbia University announced May 6. Following a string of high honors from the nation’s top investigative reporting competitions, alum Brett Murphy (’16), a reporter on ProPublic...

Producer/director Misha Kapany Schwarz (’24) has been awarded one of Berkeley Journalism’s top honors, the Marlon T. Riggs Fellowship in Documentary Filmmaking.

Misha Kapany Schwarz Named Marlon T. Riggs Fellow in Documentary Filmmaking Producer/director Misha Kapany Schwarz (’24) has been awarded one of Berkeley Journalism’s top honors, the Marlon T. Riggs Fellowship in Documentary Filmmaking. Named for the late filmmaker, alumnus and Professor Marlon T. Riggs (’81), the fellowship was created in 2014 with funding from Signi...