Cronkite alum named executive editor of ASU’s Carnegie-Knight News21 initiative

Sitting in her new office on the Cronkite faculty hallway, Jessica Boehm reflects on what brought her to this point. It was not long ago that she was a student at the Cronkite School, learning she had been selected as a Hearst Foundations Fellow for Carnegie-Knight News21. Now she’s just stepped into the executive editor role of the program she credits with launching her career. In her words, it is a dream come true. 

“It's such a whirlwind of emotions right now,” Boehm said. “I am so thankful that I've been able to have this wonderful career in journalism. But then to be welcomed back with open arms and get to help this next generation — hopefully surpass anything I've done — is just the most amazing gift and the most humbling experience of my life.”

The News21 program brings top students from journalism schools across the country to the Cronkite School each summer for a 10-week paid fellowship to report and produce award-winning multimedia projects of national scope and significance. Projects have investigated topics ranging from voting to reproductive rights to clean water. This year’s project, “Unsettled,” examines the nation’s most urgent housing challenges and evidence-based solutions.

As a News21 fellow in 2014, Boehm and her cohort spent five months researching gun rights and regulations in America. Twenty-nine students from 16 universities traveled to more than 28 states to produce the project, "Gun Wars." Boehm traveled to Minnesota and Montana, learning about gun regulations, how communities respond after mass shootings and how culture influences gun ownership. 

“I was so proud of the work we did,” Boehm said. “It really inspired me to tell those complicated and nuanced stories throughout the rest of my career.”

Cronkite faculty Jacquee Petchel and Leonard Downie Jr. led the News21 program when Boehm was a fellow.

“It is so exciting to have an outstanding News21 alum from our award-winning 'Gun Wars' project now leading News21 as a Cronkite faculty member,” said Downie, Cronkite’s Weil Family Professor of Journalism and former executive editor of The Washington Post. “I know she will be great for future News21 students to work with.”

Boehm earned her bachelor’s and master's degrees at Cronkite in 2015, winning an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award just months later for a documentary project she co-produced as a student.

In the years since, Boehm has covered immigration, business, housing, education and government. She reported for The Arizona Republic, producing watchdog journalism, political reporting and comprehensive coverage of housing insecurity. Four years ago, she launched Axios Phoenix, where she has co-authored a daily newsletter and led teams of reporters across the Western United States.

“Jessica Boehm is the perfect person to lead the next generation of News21,” said Battinto Batts Jr., dean of the Cronkite School. “She brings strength in investigative reporting, innovation and collaboration, and she knows better than anyone how important this program is to the future of our industry. News21 launches student careers at the highest levels of journalism, and Jessica’s own career path is a testament to News21’s tradition of excellence.”

The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation joined forces in 2005 to launch the Carnegie-Knight News21 initiative. It quickly became a national model for experiential learning and innovation in journalism. 

News21 has earned five Robert F. Kennedy College Journalism Awards and the RFK Grand Prize, which is typically reserved for a professional newsroom. News21 projects have also earned honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, EPPY, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Online News Association, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists, among others. 

News21 alumni have gone on to lead many of the world’s most prestigious news organizations, and Boehm said there are special bonds between fellows and Cronkite faculty.

“There was this dedication to telling the most true, accurate and complete story about a topic that we all grew to care very much about,” Boehm said.

Now it is Boehm’s turn to energize a new generation of reporters and storytellers.