On this episode we're joined by Arielle Robinson. Arielle is a Racial Equity Reporter for the Arkansas Times, for whom she's worked for 9 months. This is part of the Report for America corps program She's previously had internships and freelance roles at CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a few other outlets. Arielle is a graduate of Kennesaw State University.

Arielle talked about the experience of covering racial equity and gave examples of the different types of stories she covers. She shared her love of history, which often comes through in her writing. And she talked about reviewing theatre and the challenge of trying to remember important points in the middle of a show.

Plus, another update from Urban Assembly Gateway School Journalism Club Advisor Anita Pinto on how her club is progressing and facing challenges.

Story examples

Honoring Daisy Bates in Little Rock (read to the end)

https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2026/02/17/new-historical-marker-unveiled-at-daisy-bates-home-honors-civil-rights-legends-desegregation-work

The Palestinian art form, Tatreez

https://arktimes.com/rock-candy/2025/09/23/tatreez-circle-helps-keep-palestinian-womens-tradition-alive

Arielle's salute: Safura Syed, Verite News

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On this episode we're joined by Daarel Burnette. Daarel is a senior editor for The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he's been for about 4 years. He's spent virtually his entire 20-year professional career in education reporting and editing for places like the Louisville Courier Journal, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chalkbeat, and Education Week.

He's a graduate of Hampton University with a masters from Columbia University.

The Chronicle describes itself as "Academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence."

Daarel explained why he thinks education is the best beat to cover, how he works with writers to shape individual stories and overall coverage, and offered advice to those thinking about making journalism their career

Daarel's Salute: The Prison Journalism Project

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On this episode we're joined by Jerome Johnson, also known as Rome J. Jerome is a culture correspondent with The Triibe.

The Triibe is based in Chicago and its goal is to tell more thoughtful stories about Black people, stories that capture the multifaceted essence of their lived experiences, as well as solutions-driven stories that could teach and empower. It's aimed at a Black millennial audience. It was co-founded by Rome's sister, Morgan, The Tribe's publisher. It launched in 2017.

Jerome explained his definition of a culture correspondent and explained the coverage he's done in sports (Bears-heavy in 2025), music, and fashion. His stories cover a wide array of topics, some lighter, some heavier in nature, but all focused on the Black Chicago experience.

Story examples

There's a Deeper Conversation To Be Had About Club JRoy

https://thetriibe.com/2025/08/theres-a-deeper-conversation-to-be-had-about-club-jroy/

The Bears Are The Coolest Team in the NFL

https://thetriibe.com/2026/01/caleb-williams-is-cold-and-the-chicago-bears-are-the-coolest-team-in-the-nfl/

Full list of his stories

Jerome's salutes: Scoop Jackson, Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine

https://thetriibe.com/author/romej/

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On this episode we're joined by Mikayla Newton. Mikayla is a freelance reporter and anchor in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area often focusing on news and education stories. She's an adjunct lecturer at the University of Maryland. And she's the president and founder of a non-profit aimed at empowering future journalists, The Mikayla Newton Foundation. She is a graduate from Georgia State with a Masters from Syracuse.

Mikayla talked about what she learned from working as a weekend morning news anchor, her current project about private schools doing radical things in education in the DMV, and the goals of her foundation (which most recently awarded its first scholarship).

Mikayla's documentary short on The Mandala School

https://substack.com/home/post/p-182443346

Mikayla's salute: WABJ – The Washington D.C. chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

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On this episode we're joined by Jackson Juzang. Jackson is a student journalist at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He's quite busy.

He's a research and editorial intern at NBC Sports, he's the founder of the Philadelphia Student Press Association, and he's the co-founder of PBJ Productions, whose services include podcasts, films and video series. And he does other things too, like serve as an associate editor on the Haverford school paper (The Clerk) and run on the school track team.

We talked with Jackson mostly about the Philadelphia Student Press Association, what it does and what its goals are (it's the kind of organization that should exist in every state). We also addressed the various other projects he's involved in and what his overall aspirations are

Philadelphia Student Press Association is a nonprofit coalition of student-run newsrooms across Philadelphia’s colleges and universities. We are founded to amplify student voices, promote press freedom, and build pathways into professional journalism.

Jackson's salute: The Leinfest Institute for Journalism and all student journalists.

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On this episode we're joined by Alana Van Der Sluys. Alana is a journalism teacher at Kinnelon High School in Kinnelon, New Jersey. Alana was a guest on episode 16 on this podcast back in December 2020. She's back nearly 250 episodes later to reflect on what happened since, which includes writing a book. Alana is a graduate of Iona University with masters' from there and Montclair State.

Alana talked about her experience as a teacher, how her program includes the possibility of college credit, how the value of journalism goes beyond the class itself, and her own writing about a difficult personal experience.

Kinnelon Colt Chronicle School Newspaper: https://coltchronicle.org/

Alana's salutes: Ava Gutkin (Colt Chronicle editor-in-chief), The Garden State Scholastic Press Association, Anna Helhoski (Nerd Wallet)

Alana's book: https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Food-Fitness-Alana-Sluys/dp/1953027199

You'll also hear from 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. Anitahas been checking 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.

Anita'sSchool Newspaper: The Gateway Times

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On this episode we're joined by Stacy Kess. Stacy is a journalist and the founder and head of editorial for Equal Access Public Media. She's a graduate of Indiana University and is based in Boston.

The mission of Equal Access Public Media is to make news more accessible to all audiences so that it is more inclusive of those with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and others with accessibility needs; and to make jobs more accessible to journalists with disabilities, with chronic illnesses, who are military veterans, and who are caregivers.

Stacy talked about her connection to disability, what her organization does and its points of emphasis, the importance of alt text, and why she believes journalism is a calling.

Stacy's salute: 4 journalism professors she interviewed: Nicole Carr, Meghan Irons, Nicki Mayo, and Jason Strother

Donate to Equal Access Public Media: https://equalaccesspublicmedia.org/

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On this episode we're joined by David Covucci. David is the editor-in-chief of FOIAball – FOIA standing for "Freedom of Information Act." It's a newsletter that uses public records reporting to investigate college football. As he said- collectives, consultants, cops, contracts, and communications.

Whether or not you like sports, I think you'll find this conversation informative as we're going to talk about the idea of finding a niche in a very crowded field.

David's past experience in journalism includes time as a news editor for BroBible and the senior tech and politics editor for nearly 9 years at The Daily Dot. He's a graduate of Virginia Tech.

David talked about his experience with FOIA requests and what led him to doing a newsletter centered around them. He gave examples of the kinds of stories he's done (from tax fraud allegations to how much schools spend on entertaining recruits), and how accidental discoveries can lead to significant revelations.

The website: FOIAball.com

David's salutes: College sports newsletter founder Matt Brown, Daniel Libit (Sportico), Matt Baker (The Athletic), Jason Leopold (Bloomberg News)

You can find all our episode guides for teachers and professors here,

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