Announcing the 2019 Livingston Award Finalists

2019 Livingston Finalists

 

The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and the University of Michigan announced today the 2019 finalists in local, national and international reporting. The awards honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35 across all forms of journalism. The 55 finalist selections were chosen from more than 400 entries.

The national judges will introduce the winners on June 4, 2019, at the annual Livingston Awards luncheon in New York City.

Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the University of Michigan to support the vital role of a free and independent press, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and mentors, and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling. Other sponsors include the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour and Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling.

“Each year the Livingston Awards finalists remind us of the essential role journalism plays not simply in documenting facts, but in helping us all to understand, question and experience the complex issues of our times,” said Wallace House Director Lynette Clemetson. “Through excellence in reporting and creativity in storytelling these finalists moved the narrative on stories dominating the headlines and those that were largely unknown.”

The Livingston Awards regional judges read all qualifying entries to select the finalists in local, national and international reporting. The regional judging panel includes: Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,” PBS; Molly Ball, national political correspondent, Time; Stella Chávez, education reporter, KERA Public Radio (Dallas); Chris Davis, Vice-President of Investigative Journalism, Gannett; David Greene, host, “Morning Edition,” NPR; Stephen Henderson, host, “Detroit Today,” WDET; and Shirley Leung, interim editorial page editor, The Boston Globe.

The Livingston Awards national judges review all finalist entries and select the winners. The national judges are Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent, CNNi and host, “Amanpour on PBS”; Ken Auletta, author and media and communications writer, The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; John Harris, co-founder, Politico; Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune; Anna Quindlen, author; María Elena Salinas, independent journalist and producer; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher, executive editor, Recode

Following are the 2019 finalists, for work produced in 2018. Links to their work here.

Local Reporting

  • Carla Astudillo, Craig McCarthy, Sean Sullivan, Blake Nelson, Yan Wu, Disha Raychaudhuri and Erin Petenko, NJ Advance Media (NJ.com and The Star-Ledger)
  • Bethany Barnes, The Oregonian/OregonLive
  • Nate Berg, Curbed
  • Dave Boucher and Allen Arthur, The Marshall Project and USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee
  • Alison Bowen, Chicago Tribune
  • Zoë Carpenter, The Nation
  • Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post
  • Hannah Dreier, ProPublica in partnership with New York magazine, “This American Life,” and The New York Times Magazine
  • Liam Elder-Connors and Emily Corwin, Vermont Public Radio
  • Andrew Ford, Asbury Park Press
  • Amy Julia Harris and Shoshana Walter, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
  • Lizzie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
  • J. David McSwane and Andrew Chavez, The Dallas Morning News
  • Julian Noisecat, High Country News
  • Nick Pachelli, San Francisco Magazine
  • Connor Sheets, Alabama Media Group (The Birmingham News)
  • Aliyya Swaby and Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune
  • Kendall Taggart and Mike Hayes, BuzzFeed News
  • Kate Wells and Lindsey Smith, Michigan Radio

 National Reporting

  • Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker
  • Elizabeth Bruenig, The Washington Post
  • Brian Burnsed, Sports Illustrated
  • Andrea Patiño Contreras and Almudena Toral, Univision News Digital in collaboration with the Knight Foundation and The Intercept
  • Caitlin Dickerson, The New York Times
  • Emily Gogolak, Politico Magazine
  • Vanessa Gonzalez-Block and Emma Seslowsky, CNN
  • Jihan Hafiz, “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” Hearst Media
  • Derek Kravitz, Al Shaw, Claire Perlman, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica
  • Julia Lurie, Mother Jones
  • Daniel Medina, The Intercept
  • Tricia L. Nadolny, The Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Sophie Nieto-Muñoz and Alex Napoliello, NJ Advance Media (NJ.com and The Star-Ledger)
  • Chris Outcalt, The Atavist Magazine
  • Lizzie Presser, The California Sunday Magazine in partnership with the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute
  • Naveena Sadasivam and Zoë Schlanger, Quartz and Texas Observer
  • Sarah Smith, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  • Margaret Cheatham Williams, Ella Dobson, Angela Stempel and Jocie Juritz, The New York Times
  • Will Wright, Caity Coyne and Molly Born, The GroundTruth Project / Report for America in partnership with Lexington Herald-Leader, Charleston Gazette-Mail and West Virginia Public Broadcasting

 International Reporting

  • Atossa Abrahamian, The New York Times
  • Davey Alba, BuzzFeed News
  • Anna-Catherine Brigida, World Politics Review
  • Mstyslav Chernov and Krysta Fauria, The Associated Press
  • Mansi Choksi and Kim Wall, Longreads
  • Luisa Conlon, Hanna Miller and Lacy Jane Roberts, The New York Times Op-Docs in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
  • Jane Ferguson, PBS NewsHour
  • Ryan Gallagher, The Intercept
  • Louisa Loveluck and Zakaria Zakaria, The Washington Post
  • Niharika Mandhana, The Wall Street Journal
  • Timothy McLaughlin, Wired in partnership with the Pulitzer Center
  • Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post
  • Sonia Smith, Texas Monthly
  • Kejal Vyas, The Wall Street Journal
  • Spencer Woodman, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
  • Finlay Young, ProPublica in partnership with Time

More on the finalists and links to their work »

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The Threat to Global Press Freedom: Censorship, Imprisonment and Murder

Vanessa Gezari, Itai Anghel, Leonard Niehoff and Jawad Sukhanyar
Clockwise: Vanessa Gezari, Itai Anghel, Leonard Niehoff and Jawad Sukhanyar

Knight-Wallace Fellows Vanessa Gezari, Itai Anghel and Jawad Sukhanyar with media law scholar Leonard Niehoff at the Eisendrath Symposium

March 26, 2019 | 3 p.m.
Rackham Amphitheatre, fourth floor
915 Washington Street, Ann Arbor

Watch the discussion »

 

 

 

On stage with the foreign correspondents of Wallace House at the Eisendrath Symposium

Harmful rhetoric towards journalists and the press casts doubt about the future of a free press and the safety of reporters. This was evident following the murders of five staff members at the Capital Gazette and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As democratic nations fall short in protecting press freedom, what are the implications for journalists of all nations? In alarming numbers, reporters around the world are persecuted, jailed, exiled and even killed for exposing the truth.

Knight-Wallace journalists Vanessa Gezari of The Intercept, Itai Anghel of Israeli TV, and Jawad Sukhanyar of The New York Times discuss how threats and state censorship impact their work. In a discussion led by the University’s media law and First Amendment scholar Professor Leonard Niehoff, they share their experiences reporting from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa and discuss what can be done to protect journalists and foster press freedom around the world.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

 

About the Speakers

Vanessa Gezari is a 2012 Knight-Wallace Fellow and The Intercept’s national security editor. She has reported from four continents, nine countries, and many corners of the United States for outlets such as the Washington Post, Slate and the New Republic. She is the author of “The Tender Soldier,” about an experimental U.S. military program and its use in Afghanistan, and an adjunct professor at Columbia Journalism School.

Itai Anghel is a 2019 Knight-Wallace Fellow and a correspondent and documentary filmmaker for UVDA, a weekly investigative current affairs and documentary program on Israeli TV, Channel 2, where he also worked as a senior foreign affairs correspondent. Previously, he was a correspondent and chief editor of foreign affairs at Galatz (GLZ) Radio Station. He received the Sokolov Award, the highest award for outstanding journalism in Israel, in 2017, and he is a five-time recipient of the Best TV Documentary in Israel award from the Israeli Forum of Documentary Filmmakers.

Jawad Sukhanyar is a 2019 Knight-Wallace Fellow and a reporter for The New York Times in Afghanistan. He joined the Times in 2011 and is now the longest serving reporter in the paper’s Kabul bureau. Sukhanyar covers human rights and women’s issues and also covered the 2014 disputed Afghan presidential election. He worked as a researcher on a book about a couple who escaped an Afghan honor killing for the author Rod Nordland. Until 2011, he was a freelance reporter and researcher for various foreign news organizations. He also served as interpreter and researcher on a biography of former Afghan president Hamid Karzai for the author Bette Dam.

About the Moderator
Leonard Niehoff  is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, where he teaches courses in Media Law, First Amendment, and the history of banned books, among other things. He is the author of more than one-hundred articles, many in the field of free speech, and is currently at work on a book about the First Amendment. He has also practiced media and First Amendment law for over thirty years, representing numerous print publications, broadcasters, online media, and journalists. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.

 

Free and open to the public.

This event is produced with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Michigan Radio and the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies are co-sponsors of the event.

Livingston Winners at The Power of Narrative Conference

 

Longform Narrative on a Breaking News Cycle: Crafting the “74 Seconds” Podcast

March 23 | 10: a.m.
Boston University, George Sherman Union
Backcourt

Wallace House travels to Boston University’s The Power of Narrative conference with the 2018 Livingston Award winning Minnesota Public Radio team. Riham Feshir, Tracy Mumford and Meg Martin will share how they traced the shooting death of Philando Castile, followed the officer’s courtroom trial and brought contextual insights about race, law enforcement and justice together for a 22-episode podcast, while simultaneously reporting the breaking news story for radio and the internet.

Speakers:

  • Riham Feshir is a reporter at Minnesota Public Radio currently reporting on immigration policy, race and culture. Feshir graduated from the University of Minnesota’s journalism program and started her career working at community newspapers in greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities area. She came to MPR four years ago as an evening general assignment reporter chasing breaking news. She quickly jumped into coverage of police shootings in the Twin Cities and the aftermath of high profile incidents including the shooting of Jamar Clark and the Minneapolis police fourth precinct occupation that followed. She reported on marches, protests and highway shutdowns, along with other daily news and enterprise stories on various topics including mental health and vulnerable adults.

 

  • Meg Martin is a managing editor on the enterprise team at Minnesota Public Radio. She joined the MPR newsroom as a digital editor after a short stint at MPR’s Public Insight Network and five years in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Roanoke. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. Martin was the editor behind the ’74 Seconds’ 22-episode podcast, for which she received the 2018 Livingston Award for Local Reporting.

 

  • Tracy Mumford is a podcast developer producer for American Public Media, the parent company of Minnesota Public Radio. A graduate of the University of Chicago and the Salt institute, she served a one-year term with AmeriCorps and worked at nonprofit art organizations before landing her first journalism job at Minnesota Public Radio. As a producer, Mumford joined the team in writing, reporting and producing every episode of ’74 Seconds.’ The team received several awards for the podcast. Mumford  and two of her colleagues also received the 2018 Livingston Award for Local Reporting.

Wallace House Presents an Evening with Ronan Farrow and Ken Auletta


Ken Auletta and Ronan Farrow

“The Weinstein Effect: Breaking the Stories That Spurred a Movement”

Tuesday, March 19
Rackham Auditorium

Watch the discussion here »











 





 





Wallace House Presents an evening with Ronan Farrow and Ken Auletta









In October, 2017, The New Yorker published reporter Ronan Farrow’s exposé detailing the first on-the-record accounts of alleged assault and rape by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, followed by a series of pieces on the systems that enabled him. Farrow’s investigation helped spur a worldwide movement that redefined our cultural and institutional responses to sexual harassment and assault. Word of Weinstein’s abusive behavior had circulated among Hollywood and media circles for years. In 2002, the acclaimed author and New Yorker media writer Ken Auletta published a deeply reported profile detailing the powerful producer’s threats and intimidation tactics, but he could not get any of the women alleging sexual assault to go on the record. What changed—in Hollywood, in media, in society—to make 2017 such a turning point?





Join Wallace House Presents for an evening with reporters Ken Auletta and Ronan Farrow as they discuss their individual attempts to get to the truth about Harvey Weinstein and how reporters ultimately stood together in confronting one of the biggest stories in recent memory.





Questions for speakers? Tweet us using #WallaceHouse.





 





About the Speakers









Ronan Farrow is a contributing writer for The New Yorker and the author of “War and Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.” His next book, “Catch and Kill,” about how Weinstein and other power brokers wield influence to suppress explosive stories, is forthcoming. In 2018, Farrow received a Livingston Award for his New Yorker investigation of Harvey Weinstein. A native of New York City, he is a lawyer and former government advisor. Farrow is a graduate of Bard College and Yale Law School.





Ken Auletta is an author and media writer who has written the “Annals of Communications” profiles and essays for The New Yorker since 1992. He joined the Livingston Awards national judging panel 37 years ago and is now the program’s longest serving judge. He recused himself from voting in the national reporting category in 2018. The author of twelve books, his most recent book, “Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else),” was published in 2018. His writing and journalism has been recognized with numerous awards and honors including the 2002 National Magazine Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Silurians.









This event is co-sponsored by
U-M College of Literature, Arts and Science
Department of American Culture
Department of Women’s Studies
Department of English Language and Literature





This event is produced with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.







			


	



			
				

	

		
U.S. Military and Counter-Terrorism in Africa: Is Anybody Watching?

				

					

			


	

		
 


John Ciorciari, Christina Goldbaum and Bronwyn Bruton
John Ciorciari, Christina Goldbaum and Bronwyn Bruton


Wallace House Presents Christina Goldbaum, Bronwyn Bruton and John Ciorciari  


NEW DATE

Wednesday, March 13 | 4 – 5:30 p.m.

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Annenberg Auditorium

Free and open to the public


Watch video »


 


Join the Conversation


In 2017, journalist Christina Goldbaum’s on-the-ground investigation in Somalia exposed a U.S. military raid alleged to have resulted in the deaths of 10 Somali civilians. From a peacekeeping and nation–building force to troop build-ups, drone strikes and counter-terrorism operations, the U.S. rules of engagement are changing. Join Goldbaum, the Atlantic Council ‘s Bronwyn Bruton and the Ford School’s John Ciorciari for an examination of the U.S. military’s presence and role in Africa and the implications for civilian lives and global security.


 


About the Speakers


Christina Goldbaum is a reporter for The New York Times covering immigration. Prior to joining the Times, she was a freelance foreign correspondent in East Africa, where she spent a year in Somalia reporting on U.S. national security issues. Goldbaum received the 2018 Livingston Award for international reporting for her story of the U.S. military’s alleged role in the massacre of Somali civilians.  Goldbaum also broke stories on the build up of a secretive U.S. military post and the details of the first two U.S. combat deaths in Somalia since Black Hawk Down.


Bronwyn Bruton is director of programs and studies and deputy director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. Recognized as an authority on the Horn of Africa,  her articles and editorials about the region appear regularly in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Foreign Policy magazine and other publications. Bruton has held fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.


 


About the Moderator


John Ciorciari is an associate professor of public policy and director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center and director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center. His research focuses on international law and politics in the Global South.


 


This Livingston Lecture event is co-sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the International Policy Center.


 


This event is produced with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.


 




			


	



			
				

	

		
Wallace House Presents “Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison”

				

					

			


	

		
Journalist and author, Jason Rezaian


“Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison” with journalist and author Jason Rezaian


March 12, 2019 | 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.


Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre


Free and open to the public.


Book signing by author will follow the event.


Watch video»


 


In July 2014 Washington Post journalist and former Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, was arrested by Iranian police on charges of espionage. What followed was a harrowing 544 day stint in an Iranian prison, and an extraordinary campaign led by his family, the Washington Post, and prominent journalism organizations for his release. Join Rezaian for a discussion on his book “Prisoner,” which details his 18-month imprisonment in a maximum security facility, his journey through the Iranian legal system and how his release became part of the Iran nuclear deal.


Jason Rezaian is a contributor to CNN and  a writer for Global Opinions at the Washington Post. He served as the paper’s correspondent in Tehran from 2012 to 2016. Born and raised in Marin Country, California, Rezaian is a graduate of Eugene Lang College, New School University.


 


Iranian Studies, Global Islamic Studies Center and Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies are a co-sponsors of this event.


			


	



			
				

	

		
Dug Song Joins Wallace House Executive Board

				

					

			


	

		
Dug Song, vice president and general
manager of Duo Security, joins our 
Executive Board.


Wallace House is pleased to announce the addition of Dug Song, vice president and general manager of Duo Security, to our Executive Board.


An innovator and leading voice in cybersecurity, Song founded the Ann Arbor based company, Duo Security, in 2010. Duo now protects the data and information of more than 14,000 organizations. Last year, Cisco bought the company for $2.35 billion, the largest acquisition ever for a Michigan-based software company.


“Digital security is a daily concern of reporters and news organizations seeking to protect their sources, stories, production and distribution.” said Wallace House Director, Lynette Clemetson. “Dug believes deeply in the essential role of journalism in a democratic society. And he is a visionary in the field of securing democracy by securing information. He will add valuable expertise to our Executive Board as we work to provide forward-thinking support to the journalists in our programs.”


Song has a history of building successful products and companies to solve pressing security problems. Prior to launching Duo, Song spent seven years as founding Chief Security Architect at Arbor Networks, protecting 80 percent of the world’s Internet service providers.


Song is the newest member of the Executive Board, which was formed in Fall 2018 to provide strategic support and guidance in developing new initiatives for the Knight-Wallace Fellowships, the Livingston Awards and the Wallace House Presents event series. Comprised of acclaimed journalists, innovators and accomplished University of Michigan faculty, the board will play an active role in leading Wallace House through a period of growth and expanded vision to support the careers of journalists and uphold the role of a free press in a functional democracy.


Song speaking to Knight-Wallace Fellows about 
protecting journalists’ data, sources and news 
content from digital manipulation.


In addition to Song, Wallace House Executive Board members are:


    

  • Daniel Alarcón, co-founder and executive producer, Radio Ambulante and author
    • 

  • Kainaz Amaria, visuals editor, Vox
    • 

  • Michael S. Barr, dean, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
    • 

  • Liz Barry, special counsel to the president, University of Michigan
    • 

  • Alex Blumberg, CEO and co-founder, Gimlet Media
    • 

  • Ferhat Boratav, lecturer, Bilgi University, Istanbul
    • 

  • Jim Burnstein, screenwriter and director of screenwriting, University of Michigan
    • 

  • Tabbye Chavous, director, National Center for Institutional Diversity and professor of education and psychology, University of Michigan
    • 

  • Anne Curzan, professor of English and Associate Dean for Humanities, University of Michigan
    • 

  • Louise Kiernan, editor-in-chief, ProPublica Illinois
    • 

  • Margaret Low, president, AtlanticLIVE and vice-president, The Atlantic
    • 

  • Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief, The Undefeated and senior vice-president, ESPN
    • 

  • Paul Resnick, professor and associate dean, School of Information, University of Michigan
    • 

  • Ann Silvio, correspondent, “60 Minutes Overtime” and managing editor, 60 Minutes online
    • 



Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House, chairs the board.


Read more on the Executive Board members and their bios.


			


	



			
				

	

		
Hop Off the Hamster Wheel, Apply for a Knight-Wallace Fellowship

				

					

			


	

		
 


2017 Knight-Wallace Fellows Laurent Richard and Delece Smith-Barrow 
2017 Knight-Wallace Fellows, Laurent Richard and Delece Smith-Barrow, at a multimedia workshop.


 


After producing 280 stories within three years, a busy reporter takes a Knight-Wallace Fellowship and an eight-month dive into research on under-reported education stories.


 


Education reporter and editor Delece Smith-Barrow goes to Medium to share how a Knight-Wallace Fellowship gave her the time and resources to pursue ambitious, thoughtful stories.  Taking a deep dive into how top-tier universities recruit faculty of color, Smith-Barrow writes about auditing education courses at Michigan, doing comparative research into other universities and having time to acquire new skills and enjoy life.


Read Smith-Barrow’s reflection of her fellowship year and return to the work world on Medium.


The Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists at the University of Michigan are accepting applications from U.S. applicants for the 2019-20 academic year. We’re looking for accomplished journalists eager for growth and deeply committed to the future of journalism. The deadline to apply is February 1, 2019.


Delece Smith-Barrow is a senior editor at The Hechinger Report. As a 2017 Knight-Wallace Fellow, she studied how top-tier universities recruit faculty of color.