On this episode, we’re joined by Sarah Spicer. Sarah is a news editor for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). She was just named to Editor & Publisher’s “25 Under 35.” Sarah is a graduate of Emporia State University in Kansas, where she was editor-in-chief of her school paper, as well as Columbia School of Journalism.

Sarah talked about her current role and the work that CPJ does to fight for reporter’s rights and safety worldwide (the organization helped free 130 journalists in 2022). She also shared her journalism origin story and walked us through the award-winning team coverage she was a part of at Emporia State exposing a Title IX sexual assault cover-up involving a tenured professor and a student. She spoke about her time in the Report for America program covering climate change and what a polarizing topic that was in Kansas.

Sarah also discussed the dangers of being a journalist in 2023, gave advice for aspiring journalists specific to finding a niche, and told us about some of her other projects, including a memoir about her life and the navigation of Kansas’ foster care system.

Sarah’s salutes: Nellie Bly, Dorothy Thompson, Emily Atkin, Zoya Teirstein.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we’re joined by Tiffany Tan, a reporter for the non-profit VTDigger who covers southwest Vermont. Tiffany’s career has taken her around the globe, in the Philippines as a TV producer, in Singapore and China as a writer and editor. She’s worked in the United States in both South Dakota and Vermont.

Tiffany talked about her reporting experiences both abroad and in the United States. She explained the mission of VTDigger and why doing this kind of work was important to her. She also walked us through the process of covering stories, including a local sheriff who moved to Tennessee(!) and a criminal case that lasted more than 30 years.

Tiffany’s salutes: Katharine Graham and Maria Ressa.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Luella Brien. Luella is the editor-in-chief at Four Points Press, an independent media company which covers the Crow Indian Reservation in southern Montana. Luella also teaches high school journalism and has taught college in the past too. She was the primary narrator in the new Showtime docu-series, Murder in Big Horn.

Luella talked about her passion for journalism from a young age, how she hopes to grow her non-profit to tell both contemporary stories and those lost to history. the importance of Native representation on big projects like Murder In Big Horn, and what her teaching experience has been like.

Luella’s salute: Native journalist Hattie Kauffman

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we’re joined by Jared Council. Jared is a senior editor at Forbes. He covers stories that touch on Black business, Black culture, and Black power. He’s a graduate of Hampton University who previously worked in Indiana and Virginia and also at the Wall Street Journal. He’s based in Philadelphia.

Jared talked about his unlikely journalism origin story, one that began with he and his brother filming local rap battles. He discussed how he got basically a business school education with the work he’s done at his different jobs.

Jared went in-depth on two pieces – one that was part of a Pulitzer Prize finalist package for the Wall Street Journal about the insurance exclusions for Black residents that came after the Tulsa Race Massacre. The other, also with a history focus, was on past Black women who had been passed over for Supreme Court nominations.

You can find Jared’s current work here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredcouncil/

Jared’s salutes:

Justin Tinsley, Andscape

Jordyn Holman, New York Times

Dominic Madori, Tech Crunch

Richard Prince, veteran journalist

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we’re joined by Roxanne Scott. Roxanne is a senior producer for Futuro Media Group, an independent non-profit media organization producing multimedia journalism that gives a voice to the diversity of American experience. You may know it best for Latino USA and the person who runs the group, Maria Hinojosa

Roxanne has previously worked as a reporter in Louisville and Atlanta. Prior to being a journalist she was a teacher – in Costa Rica, Mexico, and China.

Roxanne talked about the multi-faceted role she has in investigative pieces that Futuro Media produces, using as an example of an investigative report on problematic U.S. policies for border patrol dealing with migrants in the Arizona desert.

Roxanne also talked about some of her other written and audio work, including a story about “poo and doo” and problematic sewers in Queens, N.Y., how public records were vital to her work tracking COVID cases in an ICE facility in Georgia, and how wind turbines in Louisville were important to farmers in Nigeria.

Roxanne also discussed the value of voice memos and what journalism taught her about being a more proactive person.

Roxanne’s salutes:

Gil Noble

Gwendolyn Brooks

The Ida B. Wells Society

Amsterdam News

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode we’re joined by Karen Hawkins. Karen is a longtime journalist and is currently a story editor for The 19^th*, a newsroom that operates at the intersection of gender, politics, and policy. She is also a board member for the NLGJA, the association of LGBTQ journalists, of which Karen is one.

Additionally, she is the founder and rebelle in chief of Rebellious Magazine, which delivers a unique feminist perspective on Chicago news, politics and culture. She is also the former co-publisher and co-editor in chief of the Chicago Reader and the co-host of a podcast about mental health.

Karen shared her journalism origin story, talked about what her job as a story editor entails and how she approaches the editing process. She talked about her future hope for The 19^th*, which is that it continues leaning into the asterisk and is inclusive of marginalized groups, and the year ahead for the NLGJA.

She also shared trends she’s noticed in coverage of the LGBTQ community, reminisced about her time at the Chicago Reader, and told the story of her passion projection, Rebellious.

Karen’s salutes:

The first African-American writer to publish a short story, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Journalist, author, teacher Jamal Jordan and Derrick Clifton

Journalism Websites: The Triibe, City Bureau, Scalawag

The NLGJA Mentoring Program

 Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On today’s show we’re joined by Bobbi-Jeanne Misick. She is the justice, race, and equity reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between NPR and radio stations in WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana, WBHM in Alabama, and Mississippi Public Radio working with NPR. She has previously been an editor and writer for Essence and a reporter and producer in the Caribbean.

Bobbi-Jeanne talked how the September 11 terrorist attack influenced her career decision to become a journalist and discussed her career path.

She discussed three stories she’s worked on in detail – producing an interview with the Washington D.C. Sniper early in her career, writing about laws enacted to prohibit hair discrimination in the workplace, a thorough examination of how Cameroonians seeking asylum were being treated poorly by the justice system.

Bobbi-Jeanne’s salutes: John Washington and Jim Mustian

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we’re joined by Erin O’Hare, the neighborhoods reporter for Charlottesville Tomorrow, a hyperlocal non-profit news website serving Charlottesville, Virginia (cvilletomorrow.org).

Erin explained what a neighborhood reporter does in a city of about 45,000 people, everything from reporting on the changing demographics of neighborhoods to making zoning ordinances understandable, to alerting people to the opening of a bathroom at a mall (the quotes in this one are great!), to writing impactful pieces that help residents living in shelters. Often, she focuses on people whose voices aren’t typically heard in mainstream media.

She also explained what it was like to cover the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, how that deeply affected her as both a journalist and a person, and how she wants to show that the city should be known for much more than that. And she shared her other writing interest – telling stories about culture, art, and music.

Erin’s salutes: Vinegar Hill Magazine and In My Humble Opinion, both parts of Charlottesville Inclusive Media

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode we’re joined by Margo Snipe. Margo is a reporter for Capital B (CapitalBNews.org) covering critical issues affecting the mental and physical health of Black Americans. Capital B is a non-profit newsroom serving both local and national Black audiences.

Margo talked about Capital B’s mission and how she comes up with story ideas. She went through examples of stories she had done, including a story on how doctors treat black patients complaints and how the Damar Hamlin incident of cardiac arrest is part of a larger story. She also discussed covering politics and how her time living abroad as a child shaped her worldview.

Margo’s salute: The 19th (19thnews.org)

(listen to our interview with their writer, Mariel Padilla)

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On today’s show we’re joined by Amir Khafagy. Amir is a labor reporter for Documented – journalism created with and for immigrants and how policy affects their lives. He’s of Egyptian and Puerto Rican descent and grew up in a Muslim household. He’s with Documented as part of the Report for America Program.

Amir talked about his working-class upbringing, his work as a student and labor organizer that preceded his time as a journalist, and the work he currently does. He discussed the importance of covering both labor and immigration and explained how he comes up with story ideas (sometimes they even come from The People’s Court!).

He also spoke about the importance of Report for America and why the world needs more journalists from working class backgrounds.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

Amir’s Salutes: Labor reporters Mike Elk, Kim Kelly, and Claudia Aponte.

America Needs More Working-Class Journalists article

https://www.nbcuacademy.com/catalog/working-class-journalists

Follow Amir on Twitter at http://twitter.com/amirkhafagy

Find his work here - https://documentedny.com/author/amirkhafagy91/

On this episode, we’re joined by Raegan Miller. Raegan is a reporter for KRBD, a radio station in Ketchikan, Alaska. She covers Alaska Native and rural issues as part of the Report for America program.

Raegan talked about making the transition from print to radio and covering stories in very small towns where she often gets recognized. She discussed about the kinds of stories she covered and how she works through everything from getting sound to writing. And she explained what went into a 20-minute interview with a group that included the governor of Alaska.

Raegan also talked about the help she’s gotten from the Report for America program and gave tips to those who might end up participating in it.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

Raegan’s salute: Theo Greenly, KUCB Radio in Unalaska, Alaska.

Raegan’s stories can be found at https://www.krbd.org/author/raegan-miller/

More information on Report for America can be found at ReportforAmerica.org

 Alain Stephens is the western correspondent for The Trace, an online newsroom that investigates gun violence in America. He’s been with them for nearly 4 years. He is based in San Diego.

Alain has a background in law enforcement, military, and sociology – not your typical journalism path. He’s a graduate of the University of North Texas who served in both the Coast Guard and Air Force. And he is a gun owner.

Alain talked about his unusual career path and the different projects he’s worked on for them. He explained how his military background intersects with his journalism experiences and told what it’s like to work on some stories for multiple years.

Alain’s salute: Capital B (CapitalBNews.org)

You can see Alain’s work at https://www.thetrace.org/author/alain-stephens/

LINK: How The Trace Changed Reporting on Guns in America

https://www.arnoldventures.org/stories/how-the-trace-changed-reporting-on-guns-in-america

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, I’m joined by Yanqi Xu. Yanqi is a reporter for the Flatwater Free Press in Omaha, Nebraska, the state’s first independent non-profit newsroom. She grew up in China and went to college in Beijing before getting her masters at Missouri.

Yanqi talked about her journalism origin story and about the kind of work she does at the Free Press and described the challenges of doing long investigative pieces.

You can find her work at: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/author/yxu/

Yanqi’s salute: The 19^th(19thNews.org) and MLK50.org

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Kasha Patel. Kasha is the deputy weather editor for the Capital Weather Gang at the Washington Post, covering weather, climate, and the environment.

Kasha talked about her path from NASA to her current position, how she covers both hard news stories and fun features, including fact checking a volcanic explosion in a The Lord of the Rings series. She also explained how she comes up with story ideas, her use of TikTok, and how her writing jokes for her stand-up comedy work comes together with her science education interest.

Kasha’s salute: The D.C. Science Writers Association

Find Kasha's stories here

https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/kasha-patel/

You can hear me interview Kasha about her comedy work here

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Inez Russell Gomez. Inez is the editorial page editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican – notable that we haven’t talked to an editorial page editor or a New Mexican yet. Her journalism career spans more than 40 years, much of that in New Mexico.

Inez talked about her journalism origin story and her present role both writing editorials and producing an editorial page. She also discussed the special relationship that her newspaper has with the city of Santa Fe.

Inez’s salute: The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode we’re joined by Liz Robbins. Liz is currently the director of journalism partnerships for Define American, an organization whose goal is to humanize the immigrant experience in the media one story at a time.

Prior to this job, Liz was a longtime reporter for the New York Times, first covering sports and then immigration. She’s also a journalism teacher and professor and wrote a book about the New York City Marathon.

Liz talked about her career and her goal of humanizing the people in the many features she wrote. She also explained the goals of Define American and explained the day-to-day work that she is doing for that organization, including best practices regarding language and the use of anonymous sources.

Liz’s salute: Documented NY

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

For our 100^th episode, we’re joined by Scott MacFarlane, who covers Congress and the January 6 aftermath for CBS News. Scott has been with CBS since January after leaving the NBC affiliate in DC. He’s covered Washington D.C. for nearly 20 years and has had a long career as an investigative journalist. His Twitter (@macfarlanenews) is the go-to source for information about every January 6^th court case.

Scott talked about how he keeps track of all the January 6^th cases and why he puts such a strong emphasis on the under-the-radar cases. He explained the challenge of keeping his reactions to what he’s seen and heard in check, how he makes his social media coverage differentiating, and why the most important lesson he’s learned in his career is one about fairness.

Scott’s salute: Alex Silverman, Director of News and Programming, KNX Radio, Los Angeles.

To read a transcript of this episode, click here.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, we’re joined by Nick Hirshon. Nick’s our first repeat guest. He’s an associate professor of communications at William Paterson University, a co-host of the Journalism History podcast, and is the editor of the upcoming issue of the academic journal – American Journalism. That’s our subject today.

The issues looks at the history of investigative reporting, the hook being the 50^th anniversary of the Watergate Break-In. Nick talked about the different types of pieces, from a look at investigative journalism’s origin stories to pieces on the media’s role in the Watergate story, and interviews with a wide range of journalists, including Connie Chung, Steve Scully, and actress Jane Seymour.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Cyd Zeigler.

Cyd is the co-founder of Outsports, a website covering LGBTQ+ issues in sports. He’s also the author/co-author of 3 books, most recently My Life On The Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life by Ryan O’Callaghan. He’s broken many stories related to athletes coming out publicly regarding their sexuality and is a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Hall of Fame.

Cyd talked about the website’s founding and how it has evolved over the last 20+ years. He explained how he works with athletes on their coming out stories, shared his thoughts on what journalists get wrong in their coverage of the LGBTQ+ community, and provided examples of stories he’s done, including one on former Cincinnati Reds and FOX Sports broadcaster Thom Brennaman.

Cyd’s Salute: LZ Granderson

Outsports Podcasts can be found here

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.

Trân Nguyễn is a bilingual investigative reporter and data journalist who has covered the Vietnamese community, homelessness and health care in Santa Clara County for the San Jose Spotlight via Report for America. She is a native of Saigon, Vietnam and grew up in an environment in which most media was state-sponsored. Now, she’s covering a city with the largest Vietnamese population in the United States.

Tran talked about her career path, explained the purpose of the Spotlight, discussed the kinds of stories she covers, and explained her writing style. She also talked about the mentors that were key to her development as a journalist.

Trân’s salutes: Damon Kiesow, University of Missouri and Sisi Wei founder of the DEI Coalition Slack and editor-in-chief of The Markup.

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.