SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Jan. 28, 2022) — Three journalists from New England Public Media have been selected to participate in the inaugural 2022 New England Equity Reporting Fellowship. Reporter and local host of All Things Considered Kari Njiiri; NEPM Media Lab Director Iohann Rashi-Vega; and managing editor of And Another Thing Mark Degon join an impressive roster of publishers, editors, and journalists representing more than 40 news outlets from across all six New England states.
According to the announcement from New England Newspaper & Press Association, “they will participate in the Fault Lines Training Series offered by the Maynard Institute and receive ongoing training and support from the fellowship throughout the year.”
“As a Maynard Institute Fellow (2019), I’m excited that Kari, Iohann and Mark will benefit from the unique and dynamic training offered by Maynard and through the association’s fellowship program,” said Maxie Jackson, III, chief content officer for NEPM. “We are constantly looking for opportunities to expand the skills and cultural sensitivities of our content creators.”
The New England Equity Reporting Fellowship program was created in 2021 by the Granite State News Collaborative, New England News Collaborative (of which NEPM is a founding member), New England Newspaper & Press Association, and Solutions Journalism Network, with support from the Endowment for Health. The program aims to improve news reporting and coverage on issues of race and identity and to create an inclusive newsroom culture for the participating journalists and newsrooms.
In April 2021, New England Public Media hired reporter Nirvani Williams to cover socio-economic disparities in western New England as part of the station’s Equity Desk. Williams joined NEPM through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. It is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit journalism organization.
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New England Public Media is a community-supported, independent non-profit organization based in Springfield, Massachusetts. Through a deep commitment to independent local journalism, trusted educational content, inspired cultural offerings, and civic engagement, NEPM endeavors to share new voices and inspire new conversations. It provides audiences with a broad array of local and national programs across all media —TV, radio, online, and mobile, including PBS and NPR programs as well as locally produced series, podcasts and specials. Its four digital TV channels, and two radio networks present news, jazz and classical music, documentaries, talk, drama, plus cultural and educational programming.
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Vanessa Cerillo
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