The Journalism Salute

On this episode we're joined by Megan Tagami. Megan is a reporter covering education for Honolulu Civil Beat, a non-profit newsroom in Hawaii. She's a native of Honolulu and a 2023 graduate of UCLA with a degree in political science and government. Megan talked about her entry into journalism, how she overcame her hesitance to ask people questions, explained her writing process, and shared the kinds of stories she covers on the education beat. Lots of good lessons for aspiring journalists from the perspective of a young writer beginning her career. Megan's story about mental health and Hawaii schools https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/08/the-crisis-isnt-over-maui-kids-mental-health-needs-are-mounting/ Megan's story about the librarian shortage https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/03/hawai%ca%bbi-school-libraries-are-shrinking-when-students-may-need-them-most/ Megan's story about how teachers are dealing with free speech and challenging discussion topics, like Charlie Kirk's assassination https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/11/whats-controversial-teachers-grapple-with-free-speech-in-hawaii-schools/ Megan's salute: You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Alyssa Rosenberg. Alyssa is a former editor and columnist for The Washington Post. She was at the Post for 11 and a half years, the last year and a half was spent as the letters and community editor. After the Post declined to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election she invited readers to write in. The result was 21,000 letters. And over a 6-month period, Alyssa read every one. She wrote about this recently for NOTUS (News of the United States) and she joined us to talk about her work and career. Alyssa explained what her job as a letters editor was like, her process for editing (and shortening letters), what one goes through when they read 21,000 letters on the same subject, and the value of allowing someone to feel heard. Alyssa's article for NOTUS about the 21,000 letters https://www.notus.org/perspectives/the-washington-post-got-21-000-emails-after-it-didnt-endorse-i-read-them-all Across The Movie Aisle Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/across-the-movie-aisle/id1491840893 The Shop Around The Corner- Children's Book Newsletter https://alyssarosenberg.substack.com/ Alyssa's salutes: Shane Harris, The Atlantic, Richard Just, Notus You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On The Journalism Salute we talk to journalists about who they are and what they do with the intent of showing that journalists are not the enemy of the people. On this episode we're joined by Babette Hogan and Julie Eisenberg. They are the filmmakers behind Running for the Mountains, a new documentary film about environmental policies and politics and the fight between activists and politicians about this issue in West Virginia. It's available on Amazon Prime and also, if you have a library card, on Kanopy. Babette and Julie talked about the process by which they made their movie, which took 15 years to complete. They explained why they made the movie, how – as outsiders – they gained the trust of West Virginians, and shared some of the adventures they had along the way (including an arrest. Babette and Julie's salutes: Chris Hayes of MS Now, Gasland director Josh Fox, and the movie Knock Down the House. You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by A'lauren Gilchrist. A'lauren is a senior at Norfolk State University, an HBCU in Norfolk, Virginia. She is also the student representative at the National Association of Black Journalists, NABJ. A'lauren's experience includes an internship with WAVY 10 News and we talked about the different things she learned, including the importance of having Black voices in the newsroom and in pitch meetings. She also shared the goals she has in her position with NABJ and the work she's done as a student newspaper editor and an intern with Historically Black Since. At the end of the episode, we'll hear an update from Urban Assembly Gateway School journalism club advisor Anita Pinto about what her students have been working on in the past month. We originally interviewed Anita in September. A'lauren's salutes: Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals and its president Eugene Daniel, and her mentors April Woodard of WTKR, and Aesia Toliver of WAVY 10. Article summarizing her internship: https://www.wavy.com/blogs/intern-blog/wavys-fire-intern-from-smoke-filled-scenes-to-broadcast-success/ You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Maryam Jameel. Maryam is a graduate of Northwestern and an engagement reporter for ProPublica focused on workers' rights, occupational safety, immigration, and the federal government. Being an engagement reporter means both connecting with your audience and connecting with sources and Marayam is working on a campaign featuring ads on D.C. Metro cars encouraging federal workers to share their stories. This follows a campaign that ProPublica did with a truck traveling around Washington D.C. also encouraging workers to call. We talk to her about writing, sourcing, and her approach to stories. Maryam's salute: Reporters covering the war and atrocities in Gaza Helpful links: More on the way ProPublica is finding sources https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/03/propublica-wanted-to-find-more-sources-in-the-federal-government-so-it-brought-a-truck/ Our interview with her reporting colleague, Melissa Sanchez https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/melissa-sanchez-pro-publica/id1526063503?i=1000615807775 You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Joe Coughlin. Joe is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Record - North Shore, a non-profit newsroom serving Chicago's North Shore suburbs. Joe has 20 years in the journalism industry to draw upon. The Record and The Journalism Salute started at around the same time. In fact, Joe reached out to me not long after he started to tell me what he was doing. I said – I'll talk to you eventually. Eventually is now – 5 years later! Joe talked about why he has such a passion for local news, how he started and manages a small, local, award-winning non-profit and how it has been able to survive. He also provided examples of the kind of stories that work and why he thinks sports is so important to local news coverage. Joe's salute: Block Club Chicago You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Nicole Lewis. Nicole is the engagement editor for The Marshall Project, leading the organization’s strategic efforts to deepen reporting that reaches communities most affected by the criminal legal system. She also leads certain investigative reporting projects. The Marshall Project is a non-profit nonpartisan newsroom covering America's criminal justice system with the belief that the system is broken and needs reform. We talked to Nicole about both her purpose as a journalist and The Marshall Project's purpose as an organization. She provided examples of stories she's worked on, everything from 'as-told-to' pieces with incarcerated people dealing with pregnancy issues to lawmakers' response to a supposed shoplifting crisis, to a massive survey of those incarcerated about the 2024 election (which featured a surprising level of support for Donald Trump). Nioole's salutes: Outlier Media and New York Magazine You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors (including this one) here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Ishan Thakore. Ishan is a climate and environmental reporter for Colorado Public Radio. He previously worked as a researcher, fact checker and field associate producer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, a show that ran on TBS that used comedy to tell and analyze news stories. We talked to Ishan about both jobs. He discussed his responsibilities on Full Frontal, the kinds of stories he did, the process that went into producing them, and why comedy was an effective storytelling tool. He also explained his current beat and how almost every story has a climate and environmental aspect to it, and he shared what it's like to work in public radio right now. Ishan's website https://www.ishanthakore.com/ Lumpkin or Leave It (Full Frontal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL1EyLolFUk Trump Administration Canceling Funding https://www.cpr.org/2025/07/10/trump-cancels-millions-agriculture-funding/ Ishan's salutes: The Committee to Protect Journalists and The Society for Environmental Journalists You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors (including this one) here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On The Journalism Salute we talk to journalists about who they are and what they do, with the intent of showing that journalists are not the enemy of the people. On this episode, we're joined by Rick Goldsmith. Rick is a 2-time Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker. His most recent film, Stripped For Parts, American Journalism On The Brink is streaming on PBS.com through the end of 2025 and is scheduled for airing on many local PBS stations on October 20. We talked to Rick both about the movie and how he made it. We explored why Alden Global Capital is so dangerous and what people are doing to fight back against them. Rick also provided advice for aspiring documentary filmmakers Rick's salutes: The documentaries No Other Land and Love + War You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors (including this one) here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez. He is a political science and philosophy student at the University of Texas at Dallas. He's the editor-in-chief of The Retrograde, a student newspaper that operates independent of school administration.He previously was editor-in-chief of The Mercury, which was the campus newspaper that received funding from the school, until school administration took an extremely hostile position towards the paper and local media, leading to a series of events discussed in this episode.Gregorio talked about his journalism interest (he took an atypical path to it) and described what he and his staff have been through.You can learn more about Gregorio and his colleagues in these articleshttps://www.keranews.org/education/2024-09-18/ut-dallas-mercury-student-newspaper-strike-eic-firedhttps://www.dallasobserver.com/news/ut-dallas-newspaper-ban-is-another-blow-to-freedom-on-campus-23056264https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/schools/ut-dallas-student-newspaper-student-groups-sue-to-block-texas-law-used-to-suppress-student-protestYou can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors (including this one) here, Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.orgThank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.socialSubscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

Hi everyone - Wanted to alert you to another journalism podcast that you might enjoy listening to. This is a recent episode of Small Press, Big Ideas hosted by Paul Gewuerz, who owns and runs a company that produces podcasts for news organizations. Today Paul sits down with Matthew Watkins, Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Tribune, for a conversation on nonprofit journalism, civic engagement, and navigating polarization in today’s media environment. Matthew shares his journey from local Texas reporting to leading one of the nation's premier nonprofit newsrooms, and offers candid insights into what makes The Tribune unique, from its funding model and newsroom culture to its commitment to transparency and nonpartisanship. If you like it, be sure to follow it on Apple or at LocalNews.co - we'll be back with a new episode of The Journalism Salute next Tuesday.

On this episode, we're joined by Laura Kebede-Twumasi. Laura is a journalist and public historian based in Virginia. She has formerly been a staff writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch and an education reporter at Chalkbeat. From 2022 to 2025 she was a journalist in residence (and professor) at the University of Memphis, where she got her masters. During that time she launched Civil Wrongs, a podcast and series of articles investigating lynchings, deaths related to Civil Rights work and racially-motivated massacres. It spanned 21 episodes and was a collaborative effort with students in social justice classes she taught. She is a 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri and lists her job as Professional Listener. She was recommended by our recent guest, another journalist-historian, Logan Jaffe. Laura's salute: Cardinal News You can find our episode guides for teachers and professors here Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.beehiiv.com

On this episode we're joined by Ana Valdez. Ana is a multimedia journalist for KWCH-12 TV in Wichita, Kansas. Ana, a native of Bolivia, describes herself as dedicated to sharing bilingual stories, believing that journalism should create impact and that language should be a bridge, not a barrier. Ana shared her career path and gave examples of her work ranging from covering immigration and other political issues in Kansas to local news like the birth of a hippo or a local pinball league. She had advice for aspiring journalists, applicable given that she was one herself not long ago (she's a graduate of Emporia State and CUNY-Newmark). Story example: https://www.kwch.com/2025/07/26/wichita-schools-reassure-families-immigration-concerns-rise/ Ana's salutes: The National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Leila Medina of the New York Times, and Charlie Spicer of the Committee to Protect Journalists (who recommended Ana for this episode). You can find our episode guides for teachers and professors here Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this special edition of The Journalism Salute, we talk to Anita Pinto, a speech therapist for  Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology, a high school in Manhattan in which she started a journalism club last year. Anita is going to check in with us once a month to let us know how her club is doing, the challenges the students face, and the things they learn. We thank the non-profit Press Pass NYC for connecting us with her. Press Pass is supporting the efforts of Anita and other journalism educators starting new programs throughout New York City. In this episode, Anita introduced us to her school and club and explained why she started the program. She shared what Year 1 was like and what her expectations are for Year 2. Look for more updates from Anita throughout the school year. Anita's salute: Kevin Benoit, founder Parlé Magazine You can find our episode guides for teachers and professors here Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode we're joined by Cara Kuhlman. Cara is the director of digital strategy and products for KNXX Public Radio in Seattle. She is also the founder of Future Tides, which provides news for people who work, play, and live on the Pacific Northwest's waterways. I'm interested in that in particular because Cara is doing some clever things to engage with her readership, including using her expertise to give tours to local residents. Cara talked about how she started this project from scratch and how she's built it over the last few years. She spoke about what she's done with her tours and how she's planning to help others who want to give tours to their community. She also shared the organizations that have been helpful to her, which includes a program at CUNY-Newmark, Lion Publishers, and Tiny News Collective. Cara's salute: Monica Nickelsburg, KUOW-FM reporter Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode we're joined by Elisha Brown. Elisha is the Reproductive Rights Today Newsletter for the non-profit States Newsroom. She's based in Durham, North Carolina and is a 2017 graduate of American University in Washington D.C. She worked for some prominent newsrooms prior to her current job, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Daily Beast. Elisha talked about those jobs and her current work. She gave examples of the type of stories she covers and explained the other things that go into producing the newsletter. She shared how the coverage of this issue goes well beyond just covering abortion. Elisha's salute: The 19th Examples of her writing: Texas man sues California doctor over mailing abortion pills Baby bonds economist says so-called Trump accounts ‘co-opted a good idea’ What top IVF advocates want from the White House fertility care plan Momnibus Act aims to improve maternal health nationally despite budget cuts Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode we're joined by a great longform feature writer, John Glionna. John is a longtime journalist – older than most of our guests (he's in his 60s). He spent 35 years in newspapers including 26 at the Los Angeles Times. He's been based in different places around the world, including Seoul, South Korea and Las Vegas. This interview is intended to pick John's brain on what goes into writing features about some of the most interesting and unusual people you'll ever encounter. We discuss several of his past features, which are excerpted in his new book, Rebels and Outliers, Real Stories of the American West. There are a lot of good lessons for aspiring journalists on everything from writing ledes to what can be gained from reading your work aloud. John's blog: https://www.johnglionna.com/blog Article examples: The Bridge Jumper – https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-23-me-jumper23-story.html The Lonesome Phone Booth https://www.mediafire.com/file/xnr8uqryadrdt3b/19960223_OC_Register_Lonesome_Phone_has_the_ring_of_a_Desert_Landmark.pdf/file John's salute: The current staff of the Los Angeles Times Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode we're joined by Laura Robertson. Laura just completed a stint as a writer for The Nome Nugget – that's Nome as in Nome, Alaska – and the Nugget is an award-winning weekly that serves a population of 3,700 in western Alaska. It is Alaska's oldest newspaper. She is a graduate of Princeton University. As she prepares to start a new job she talked about her experience both with the Nugget and in freelance writing. She shared examples of stories she's written (including an award-winning piece before going to Nome). She described what Nome is like and what kind of stories she covered. She also had some profound observations about what it's like to be an early-career journalist in 2025. Article examples New York Press Club award-winning piece https://nysfocus.com/2024/07/18/primecare-private-medical-contractor-jail-deaths Gold mining story https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qvSugUUYYa6gUnJ6BrexfoSpzrxt9jiW/view Laura can sing too - jazz and opera Laura's salutes: Laurelai Ivanoff High Country News; Anna Lionis, Diana Haecker, and Nils Hahn of The Nome Nugget Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we're joined by Logan Jaffe. Logan is based in Chicago and is a reporter for ProPublica focusing on newsletters. She's been there for 8 years and her work often centers on using historical research to tell stories about the present. She is a 2011 grad of the University of Florida and is pursuing a masters in public/applied history from Loyola, Chicago. Logan recently wrote about the floods in Kerr County, Texas, and how oral histories existed that refuted the idea that you couldn't have predicted such an event would happen there. Other examples of things she's written in other jobs include researching the murder of a Black baseball manager in the 1920s to provide answers to his descendants, and telling the story of her experience with racist household objects. Logan talked about how she does her work and why history is so important to her. Logan's salute: Laura Kebede-Twumasi, public historian Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com

On this episode, we're joined by Bryan Vance. Bryan is the founder of Stumptown Savings, a newsletter and website that helps the people of Portland Oregon shop for food smarter. This is a chance for us to talk about creator-model journalism and service journalism. Bryan talked about the motivation for starting Stumptown Savings (a combination of a Nieman Lab article and getting laid off), what he aims to offer his readers, the creator-model as a way of producing journalism, and much more. Story examples https://stumptownsavings.com/p/grocery-price-stress-portland-oregon-community-solutions https://stumptownsavings.com/p/portland-oregon-grocery-deals-july-31-aug-5-hatch-chile-verde Bryan's salute: Copper and Heat Podcast Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.comOn this episode, we're joined by Bryan Vance. Bryan is the founder of Stumptown Savings, a newsletter and website that helps the people of Portland Oregon shop for food smarter. This is a chance for us to talk about creator-model journalism and service journalism. Bryan talked about the motivation for starting Stumptown Savings (a combination of a Nieman Lab article and getting laid off), what he aims to offer his readers, the creator-model as a way of producing journalism, and much more. Story examples https://stumptownsavings.com/p/grocery-price-stress-portland-oregon-community-solutions https://stumptownsavings.com/p/portland-oregon-grocery-deals-july-31-aug-5-hatch-chile-verde Bryan's salute: Copper and Heat Podcast Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com