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, as well as photojournalists Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, and Sebastião Salgado.

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Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com

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Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

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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, innovative ways of sourcing, the challenges of ethical reporting, and her approach to stories.

Maryam's salute: Reporters covering the war and genocide 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