The Omaha World-Herald chose four undergraduates from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications to work as fellows at the newspaper this spring.
The students will contribute stories and/or photos to the paper and work alongside its journalists and photographers while continuing their studies at the college this semester.
The students are:
Vanessa Daves, a sophomore from Prairie Village, Kansas. She held a reporting internship with the St. Joseph News-Press in summer 2014 where she wrote news articles, broadcast scripts and shot video. Daves covered the sports beat and the Arts & Entertainment section for the Daily Nebraskan in the 2013-2014 school year. Daves earned a "Freshman of the Semester" award while at the Daily Nebraskan for several sports articles she wrote, including a story about University of Nebraska–Lincoln gymnast Emily Wong. She is public relations chair for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln ambassadors, a member of the leadership team for the Navigators (Greekside) and is vice president of public relations at Kappa Delta. She is the recipient of the Ruth Leverton Scholarship. Daves is majoring in journalism and Spanish.
Lexie Heinle is a junior from Winner, South Dakota. Last semester, she worked as a news intern with University Communications. On campus, Heinle is involved with the University Honors Program and the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. She studied Spanish at the Espanol in Toledo program through the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Heinle is majoring in journalism with minors in English, Spanish and business. She has made the Dean’s List for the past four semesters.
Natasha Rausch is a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio. Last summer she covered the tornadoes that tore through Northeast Nebraska and wrote a four-part series on human trafficking in the city and state for the Norfolk Daily News. Rausch spent three semesters working at the student newspaper, The Daily Nebraskan. She is the vice president of the American Copy Editors Society and is an ambassador for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Rausch is the recipient of the Harold and Marian Andersen and the George Beadle scholarships.
Flora Zempleni is a sophomore journalism and global studies major from Lincoln. She spent the past two summers interning in Germany at the Auslandsjournal program at Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF or Second German Television) as well as at Südwestrundfunk (SWR or Southwest Broadcasting). Zempleni worked as a copy editor for The Daily Nebraskan and is an officer for the Model United Nations chapter at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is a Regent’s scholar and the recipient of the Paul N. Williams Scholarship from the Omaha Press Club. Zempleni has made the CoJMC Dean’s List every semester.
The Omaha World-Herald fellows are chosen through an application and interview process. Students must be enrolled in or have completed the Omaha World-Herald “Real World” class. The class is the result of a partnership between the Omaha World-Herald and the College of Journalism and Mass Communications and is offered to juniors and seniors. During the 15-week class, students learn from a different World-Herald staff member each week on topics such as editing, interviewing and covering all aspects of the news. The Real World class began in fall 2008 and is offered every semester.
