ASU's Carnegie-Knight News21 project examines the state of American democracy
Carnegie-Knight News21 journalists traveled to more than two dozen cities in 17 states, as well as to Washington, D.C., to talk with political leaders, community activists and young people all working to strengthen democracy. Photo courtesy of Carnegie-Knight News21
In the latest project of Carnegie-Knight News21, a national reporting initiative and fellowship headquartered at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, student journalists have gone beyond horse race election coverage to examine some of the deeper questions facing Americans at an unusual moment in the nation’s history.
“Fractured," launched earlier this week, is an examination of the state of American democracy. For the project, News21 journalists traveled to more than two dozen cities in 17 states, as well as to Washington, D.C., to talk with political leaders, community activists and young people all working to strengthen democracy.
“This News21 cohort took on one of the toughest topics around during an election year unlike any other we’ve seen in our history, and the content they produced is truly outstanding,” said News21 Executive Editor Pauline Arrillaga. “When you read, watch and listen to these stories, you’ll learn so much about where our democracy stands today and how we got here.”
The journalists conducted extensive research for the project before arriving in Phoenix earlier this summer to begin a 10-week reporting fellowship. They tackled issues such as the rise in artificial intelligence, disinformation, deepfakes and election denialism, as well as increased threats toward election workers, as the country approaches the first presidential election since the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the Capitol.
The cohort included 29 journalists from 14 universities: Arizona State University, Butler University, DePauw University, Morgan State University, North Texas University, St. Bonaventure University, Syracuse University, University of Alabama, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Oklahoma, University of Oregon, University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Fair and honest reporting plays such an important role in preserving and improving our democracy, and being a part of that reporting has been a great honor,” said fellow Emily Richardson of Virginia Commonwealth University. “Working in this team of some of the most talented student journalists and editors in the country was an experience like no other. I learned so much from the breadth of experience in the newsroom every day.”
The final project — in text, video, audio, photos and graphics — is available to media outlets for publication at no cost. That content includes three explainer videos about various aspects of democracy and an innovative “Spot the Fake” quiz that allows users to test their ability to identify AI-generated content.
The Knight Foundation provides core support for the News21 program. Individual fellows in the 2024 cohort were supported by their universities as well as a variety of foundations, news organizations and philanthropic partners that included the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, The Arizona Republic/azcentral and Gray Television.
In past years, News21 fellows have taken on topics including police reform, COVID-19, extremist groups and juvenile justice. Last year’s “America After Roe” project, examining the aftermath of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, took home the grand prize in the RFK Journalism Awards, an honor typically given to professional outlets rather than student journalists. The project also won the College Journalism Award in that contest, as well as two Telly Awards, three first-place Editor & Publisher EPPY Awards and a “People’s Voice” Webby Award.
Fellows in this summer’s program are:
- Abigail Beck, Arizona State University, Don Bolles/Arizona Republic Fellow
- Celia Frazier, University of Colorado Boulder
- Christopher Lomahquahu, Arizona State University, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Dani Ingram, University of Oklahoma, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Delaney Chase, St. Bonaventure University
- Denzen Cortez, Arizona State University, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Donovan Johnson, Arizona State University, Howard G. Buffett Foundation Fellow
- Eliana Alzate, DePauw University, Myrta J. Pulliam Foundation Fellow
- Emily Richardson, Virginia Commonwealth University, Cronkite/NBCU Fellow
- Eshaan Sarup, Arizona State University, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Gabi Morando, Butler University
- Hannah Lee, University of Oklahoma, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Hudson French, Arizona State University, Howard G. Buffett Foundation Fellow
- Ismael Lele, University of Oklahoma, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Jordan Moore, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Howard G. Buffett Foundation Fellow
- Joshua Harrison-Williams, Morgan State University
- Josie Malave, University of Alabama
- Juanita Hurtado Huerfano, University of Colorado Boulder
- Kyle Chouinard, Syracuse University
- Lillie Boudreaux, Arizona State University, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Marshal Farmer, North Texas University, Gray Television/Cronkite Fellow
- Nate Engle, Arizona State University, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Olivia Talkington, University of Oklahoma, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Peggy Dodd, University of Oklahoma, Inasmuch Foundation Fellow
- Pierce Gentry, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
- Romie Avivi Stuhl, University of Oregon
- Samantha Grove, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Howard G. Buffett Foundation Fellow
- Shelby Rickert, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Howard G. Buffett Foundation Fellow
- Vivian Serafin, Arizona State University, Howard G. Buffett Foundation Fellow
Students interested in learning more about News21 and future scholarship opportunities should visit https://news21.com/join-our-team/. Media organizations interested in potentially publishing the project or portions of it should reach out to Pauline Arrillaga at pauline.arrillaga@asu.edu. More information on previous News21 projects is available at https://news21.com/.
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