On this episode, we're joined by Dormiya Vance. Dormiya is a multimedia reporter for WABE, the NPR and PBS affiliate serving Atlanta, Georgia. She's been with them for almost 3 years.

Dormiya is a graduate of an HBCU, Fayetteville State University with a masters from Georgia State. She's part of Report for America, a non-profit that provides and helps pay the salaries of journalists at newsrooms across the country.

Dormiya talked about taking on a radio job without having experience in radio and how she learned what to do on the job. She gave examples of the reporting she did and explained how she gets her story ideas. And she talked about the value of both an HBCU education and of working with Report for America.

Dormiya's salutes: Journalists of Color at WABE (including Marlon Hyde, Julien Virgin, Rahul Bali, Jasmine Robinson) and also Ethel Payne, The First Lady of the Black Press

Story examples

Blighted properties in South Dekalb

https://www.wabe.org/whos-responsible-for-south-dekalbs-blighted-properties/

Atlanta's LGBTQ rappers and hip hop artists

https://www.wabe.org/queering-the-mic-lack-of-representation-in-hip-hop-creates-challenges-for-lgbtq-atlanta-rappers/

Atlanta's transgender basketball league

https://www.wabe.org/how-a-transgender-basketball-league-is-creating-space-for-trans-people-in-atlanta/

Black Women Mayor's Roundtable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS95Xnhdio4

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to journalismsalute@gmail.com

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On this episode, we're joined by Katelyn Vue. Katelyn is a reporter for the non-profit newsroom Sahan Journal in Minnesota covering the immigration and housing beats. She's been with them for a little over 2 years. In 2024 she shared the Young Journalist of the Year award from the Minnesota branch of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Katelyn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. She's our 2nd Hmong guest to appear, joining tv news anchor Chenue Her.

Katelyn is a product of Report for America, a non-profit that helps pay the salaries of journalists across the country. Applications to join the next Report for America corps of reporters are due on February 3.

Katelyn talked about the importance of building trust with sources and recounted notable stories, including those on housing issues and different cultural communities. She also reflected on the challenges and rewards of her work, the impact of Report for America on her career, and the importance of maintaining mental health as a journalist.

Notable articles

You live day by day’: Language, cultural stigma add to barriers for unhoused Hmong

https://sahanjournal.com/housing/hmong-homeless-st-paul-minnesota-encampments

The funeral with 400 Whopper Juniors

https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/burger-king-whopper-jr-400-burgers-hmong-funeral/

The West Side Flats Displacement

https://sahanjournal.com/housing/st-paul-west-side-flats-displacement-report-apology-reparations/

Lebanese Community Response To Israeli Attacks

https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/lebanon-minnesota-community-response-israeli-attacks/

Katelyn's Salutes: Susan Du, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Chao Xiong, Sahan Journal

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to journalismsalute@gmail.com

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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On this episode, we're joined by Jennifer Berry Hawes. Jennifer is a reporter for the non-profit ProPublica focusing on criminal justice, religion, race, and the welfare of women and children in the southern part of the United States.

Prior to ProPublica, Jennifer was a longtime Watchdog and Public Service reporter for The Charleston Post and Courier. She was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for Public Service for a series about South Carolina's failure to protect women from domestic violence. She's won several other prominent awards. Her book- Grace Will Lead Us Home- about a mass shooting in a South Carolina church was published in 2019.

Jennifer discussed her work on stories about domestic violence, segregation academies, human trafficking, and the challenges of reporting on emotionally taxing topics, while emphasizing the importance of empathy, detailed storytelling, and teamwork in journalism.

This episode abounds with lessons for aspiring journalists in how to excel at longform reporting.

Jennifer's salute: Asheville Watchdog

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to journalismsalute@gmail.com

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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