Three grad students awarded Hitchcock Fellowships

by Kaitlin Van Loon

January 24, 2022

Shreyoshi Ghosh, Yvette Williams, Margarita Shmakova
(From left) Shreyoshi Ghosh, Yvette Williams, Margarita Shmakova

Three graduate students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications were awarded Hitchcock Fellowships in January 2022. The Hitchcock Fellowship provides support for graduate students in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications who are pursuing professional projects as part of their degree program.

Shreyoshi Ghosh, a master’s student specializing in professional journalism, was awarded a fellowship to support a depth report evaluating mainstream media coverage of the health and economic challenges of American Indian women and the response to the current state of affairs through the conjoined efforts of local and urban news outlets.

Margarita Shmakova, a master’s student specializing in professional journalism, was awarded a fellowship to support a depth report on the historical background of women’s fashion media, specifically evaluating the social changes that affected the development of the industry and paved the way for change within the fashion media newsroom.

Yvette Williams, a graduate student specializing in professional journalism, was awarded a fellowship to support the development of a six-part podcast series, “Chronic: The Pain Game,” an in-depth review of chronic pain through the voices of individuals suffering from chronic pain, patient advocates and healthcare professionals.

Support for the Hitchcock Fellowship is provided by the Gilbert M. & Martha Hitchcock Foundation. The foundation is one of the oldest family foundations in Omaha, with more than 75 years of serving Nebraska with philanthropic support. Martha Harris Hitchcock created the foundation in 1943 to honor her late husband, two-term U.S. Sen. Gilbert Monell Hitchcock. Sen. Hitchcock entered politics after creating the Omaha World-Herald when he brought together his Evening Herald with the Omaha World newspapers.