Students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications have published "Nebraska Behind Bars." The spring 2025 in-depth and investigative reporting class examined the state’s overcrowded and understaffed prison system.
Over the course of 16 weeks, the student team interviewed 128 people, including current and formerly incarcerated individuals at most of Nebraska’s nine prisons. They also spoke with teenagers held at the Douglas County Youth Center, lawmakers, corrections employees, mental health professionals and family members to better understand the impacts of the state’s strained corrections system.
In addition to conducting interviews, students reviewed nearly 450 pages of research documents, including academic articles, news stories and legislative records. They filed 16 public records requests, nine of which were denied. Many students balanced this extensive reporting work alongside jobs and other coursework, including work at the Daily Nebraskan.
The final stories spotlight the human consequences of overcrowding and understaffing in Nebraska’s prisons through investigative reporting and powerful personal narratives. The series is available now on the Nebraska News Service website. The Midwest Newsroom anticipates republishing the series in the coming weeks. The project has also been shared with the Flatwater Free Press and the Nebraska Examiner for potential republication.
“This is journalism at its best,” said Shari Veil, dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. “Our students tackled a difficult and often inaccessible topic with professionalism, persistence and compassion. Their work gives voice to those directly affected by Nebraska’s prison system and demonstrates the power of investigative journalism.”
The depth report is part of the college’s Depth Reporting program, led by Deepe Endowed Chairs in Depth Reporting Chris Graves and Linda White. The program is supported by the Deepe Family Endowment, which supports journalism education and investigative reporting in Nebraska with a focus on stories that impact the Great Plains and tribal communities.
Past depth projects include "Missing, Murdered and Marginalized Women," a 2024 series on missing Indigenous women, and "Wounds of Whiteclay," the 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Grand Prize winner. In 2021, students produced "State of Waste," a podcast that investigated Nebraska’s waste management system.
Learn more about the college’s Depth Reporting program at https://journalism.unl.edu/student-experiences/depth-reporting/.
Meet the student journalists behind Nebraska Behind Bars:
First Name | Last Name | Year | Major | Hometown | Home State |
| Maddie | Ames | 2025 graduate | advertising and public relations and journalism | Lincoln | NE |
| Chloe | Fitzgibbon | junior | journalism | Lincoln | NE |
| Alexandra | Gryczanowski | junior | broadcasting and journalism | Papillion | NE |
| Jackson | Ingvoldstad | senior | broadcasting | Omaha | NE |
| Grace | Lewis | senior | journalism | Hooper | NE |
| Ryan | Luetkemeyer | senior | broadcasting and journalism | Webster Groves | MO |
| Fatima | Naqi | senior | journalism | Lincoln | NE |
| Meghan | O'Brien | 2025 graduate | journalism and English | Fremont | NE |
| Shelby | Rickert | senior | journalism | Beaver City | NE |
| Paloma | Sanchez-McGee | senior | advertising and public relations and journalism | Fort Worth | TX |
| Livia | Ziskey | senior | advertising and public relations and journalism | Omaha | NE |
