Carnegie-Knight News21, a national reporting initiative headquartered at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, launched its 2024 project – “Fractured,” an examination of the state of American democracy.
“Fractured” goes beyond horse race election coverage to examine some of the deeper questions facing Americans at an unusual moment in the nation’s history. 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, Gray Television and more.
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/.
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
