The New England Equity Reporting Fellowship has selected 76 journalists to participate in the inaugural 2022 program. The Fellows are an impressive roster of publishers, editors, and journalists representing more than 40 news outlets from across all six New England states.
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.
For more than 40 years, the Maynard Institute has fought to push back against the systemic lack of diversity in the news industry through training, collaborations, and convenings. The Fault Lines training series is based on addressing personal bias “Fault Lines” of race, gender, sexual orientation, generation, geography, and class, as they apply to journalists, newsrooms and coverage.
2022 New England Equity Reporting Fellows:
Josie Albertson-Grove, Staff Reporter Education and Health
New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, NH
J.D. Allen, Assistant News Director
WSHU Public Radio, Westport, CT
Kevin Andrade, Freelance Reporter, Immigrant Communities
Granite State News Collaborative, NH
Boston Globe Magazine, MA
Amanda Andrews, Associate Editor
NH Business Review, Manchester, NH
Roberta Baker, Reporter Education, Health & Community
The Laconia Daily Sun, Laconia, NH
Daniel Barrick, News Director
New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH
Bijan Bayne, Contributor at ESPN
ESPN
Jalen Beliveau, Student Journalist
Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, NH
Dianna Bell, Arts and Culture Editor
90.9 WBUR, Boston, MA
Jeremy Bernfeld, Senior Editor Investigations
The Public’s Radio, RI
Todd Bookman, Senior Reporter
New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH
Anne Brennan, Executive Editor
Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, MA
Bisi Cameron, Reporter and Photojournalist
Lincoln County News, Newcastle, ME
Andrew Catalina, Digital Editor
Maine Public, Lewiston, ME
Gayla Cawley, News Editor
The Daily Item, Lynn, MA
Anika Clark, Executive Editor Local News
The Keene Sentinel, Keene, NH
Jeff Cohen, News Director
Connecticut Public, Hartford, CT
Michael Cote, Editor and Columnist
New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester, NH
Philip Cozzolino, Reporter
Newport This Week, Newport, RI
Mark Davis, Managing Editor
Vermont Public Radio, Colchester, VT
Mark Degon, Managing Editor, And Another Thing
New England Public Media, Springfield, MA
Bryant Denton, Reporter and Technology Services
Vermont Public Radio, Colchester, VT
Mike Dougherty, Digital Editor
VTDigger, Montpelier, VT
Adam Drapcho, News Editor and Features Reporter
The Laconia Daily Sun, Laconia, NH
Liora Engel-Smith, Health Reporter
VTDigger, Montpelier, VT
Zeninjor Enwemeka, Senior Business Reporter and Vice President of the Boston Association of Black Journalists
90.9 WBUR, Boston, MA
Megan Fernandes, Reporter
Foster’s Daily Democrat, Dover, NH
Geoff Forester, Photo Editor
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH
Michael Gagne, News Reporter
Record-Journal, Meriden, CT
Sarah Gibson, Reporter
New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH
Abagael Giles, Climate and Environment Reporter
Vermont Public Radio, Colchester, VT
Allie Ginwala, Audience Engagement Editor
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH
Megan Gray, Reporter
Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME
Bob Greene, Retired Journalist
Associated Press
Nour Habib, Engagement Reporter
Granite State News Collaborative, NH
Julie Hirshan Hart, Reporter
The Laconia Daily Sun, Laconia, NH
Madeline Hughes, Reporter
The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, MA
Paul Lambert, Student Journalist
Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, NH
Izaskun Larraneta, Managing Editor
The Day, New London, CT
Nita Lelyveld, City Editor
Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME
Steve Leone, Publisher
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH
Ann Lopez, Senior Producer
WSHU Public Radio, Westport, CT
Arianna MacNeill, General Assignment Reporter
Boston.com, Boston, MA
Philip Marcelo, General Assignment Reporter
Associated Press, Boston, MA
Dan Mauzy, Executive Editor for News
90.9 WBUR, Boston, MA
April McCullum, Story Editor
Burlington Free Press, Burlington, VT
Mariah Melendez, General Assignment Reporter
Cheshire Herald, Cheshire, CT
Kathleen Mulvaney, Courts and Criminal Justice Reporter
The Providence Journal, Providence, RI
Kristen Nevious, Director
The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication, Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, NH
Kari Njiir, Local Host of NPR’s All Things Considered
New England Public Media, Springfield, MA
Alison Novak, Education Reporter
Seven Days, Burlington, VT
Eileen O’Grady, Education Reporter
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH
John Osborn, Editor
The Harvard Press, Harvard, MA
Brittany Patterson, Deputy Managing Editor
Vermont Public Radio, Colchester, VT
Anthony Payton, Freelance Journalist
Granite State News Collaborative, NH
Bonnie Phillips, Deputy Editor
The Connecticut Health I-Team, New Haven, CT
Melanie Plenda, Director
Granite State News Collaborative, NH
Cori Princel, Managing Editor
New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH
Tania Ralli, Assistant Managing Editor
90.9 WBUR, Boston, MA
Andrew Rice, Reporter
Sun Journal, Lewiston, ME
Josh Rogers, Senior Political Reporter
New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH
Angela Rowlings, Freelance Photojournalist
Boston MA
Susan Sharon, Deputy News Director and Reporter
Maine Public, Lewiston, ME
Terry Sheridan , News Director
WSHU Public Radio, Westport, CT
Keith Shortall, Editor
Maine Public, Lewiston, ME
Mark Simpson, Director of News and Public Affairs
Maine Public, Lewiston, ME
Margaret Smith, Senior Multimedia Journalist
Eagle-Independent, Chelmsford, Westford and Littleton, MA
Lilly St. Angelo, Urban Change Reporter
Burlington Free Press, Burlington, VT
Brian Stevenson, Managing Director of Production
Vermont Public Radio, Colchester, VT
Catie Talarsk, Head of Radio Programming
Connecticut Public, Hartford, CT
Leah Todd Lin, New England Region Manager
Solutions Journalism Network, New York, NY
Jonathan Van Fleet, Editor
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH
Phil Vaughn, Producer
NH PBS, Durham, NH
Iohann Vega, Director of Media Lab
New England Public Media, Springfield, MA
Jenny Whidden, State House Reporter
Granite State News Collaborative, NH
Natalie Williams, News Editor
VTDigger, Montpelier, VT
About the New England Equity Reporting Fellowship:
The program was created in 2021 by the Granite State News Collaborative, New England News Collaborative, 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.
Shaw Israel Izikson was named as the editor of The Country Journal in late November.
Freedom Forum Perspective: Bill of Rights Day Deserves Greeting Cards Too
More and more occasions today seem to call for cards, even setting aside the more transparently money-motivated “national days” for everything from dice to doughnuts (which actually get two days).
But there’s one holiday — now hear me out — I wouldn’t mind being more commercialized.
Bill of Rights Day on Dec. 15 commemorates the day in 1791 the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution became law.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS’ BEGINNING
When we think of Bill of Rights Day, if we do at all, we might picture weathered scrolls and men in curly powdered wigs. Those aren’t inaccurate images — just incomplete.
The founders wanted to prevent government abuse of its powers, but some saw naming citizens’ rights explicitly as too limiting, while others believed the best way to protect the people was to enshrine a bill of rights within the original Constitution. Still, others preferred a separate list of rights.
George Mason, author of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, even refused to sign the Constitution — as did several states — in part because it lacked a bill of rights. Others signed with the promise one would be added by amendment.
Eventually, with Virginia’s ratification, the 10 amendments ultimately making up the Bill of Rights were approved by the three-fourths of states required to enact it.
THE RIGHTS THAT EMPOWER US
Today, the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights enable us to work toward the “more perfect union” to which our founders aspired.
Our First Amendment freedoms have particularly protected the rights of activists to speak out and protest for suffrage, for civil rights, and for social changes both small and significant. The guarantee of these freedoms empowers us to participate in democracy. To have a say.
More fundamentally, our freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition enable us to be who we are, to believe what we believe, without fear of government punishment.
We may not think about these freedoms much because they are even more integral than doughnuts or dice to living as we choose each day. But they’re surely worth the parchment they’re inked on — and a supply of cardstock for greeting cards.
And there’s another reason Bill of Rights Day is a prime candidate for the greeting card industry.
THESE RIGHTS ARE YOURS, MINE AND OURS
If we think about the Bill of Rights long enough to get past the calligraphy and powdered wigs, we may focus on the rights it secures in personal, individual terms: I get to pray as I wish. It’s my right to speak. These rights protect me.
They do.
But these rights are only guaranteed for ourselves if they’re also ensured for everyone. They aren’t just mine or yours, but ours.
In forming a democratic society, and establishing a Bill of Rights, our founders agreed to protect these rights for each other. This part of the Bill of Rights’ promise is often overlooked but is key to safeguarding each of our freedoms.
Perhaps if a selection of Bill of Rights Day cards was readily available each Dec. 15, we might be more likely to take one day each year to recognize each other’s roles in practicing, protecting, and preserving our freedoms.
Download your free, sharable Bill of Rights Day cards here:
Bill of Rights Day Postcard 1
Bill of Rights Day Postcard 2
By Karen Hansen, Freedom Forum content managing editor. You can reach Karen at khansen@freedomforum.org.