Daniel Moore, a junior majoring in newspaper journalism, is one of 24 student journalists from 12 universities around the country conducting a national investigative reporting project on post-9/11 veterans as part of the Carnegie-Knight News21 in-depth journalism program. Moore is the first JMC student to be awarded a prestigious News21 Fellowship. News21 is headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
News21 fellows cover critical national issues using innovative digital methods to produce content on multiple platforms. This year’s topic was selected because of its significance and relevance. Veterans face huge challenges in health, education, employment, housing and access to benefits. Post-9/11 veterans also include the largest contingent of women in American history, and these women face unique civilian re-entry challenges. News21 fellows take part in a spring semester seminar taught in-person and via teleconference by Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor of The Washington Post and the Weil Family Professor of Journalism at the Cronkite School. Students also conduct research with numerous veterans’ advocacy groups, veterans’ services experts and government officials.
In the summer, News21 fellows move on to paid fellowships, working out of a newsroom at the Cronkite School. They will travel across the country to report and produce stories.
Moore, who is in Washington, D.C. this semester as part of Kent State’s Washington Program in National Issues, is researching the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, conducting interviews, sifting through data and attending Congressional committee meetings related to the performance of these two large federal agencies. “I’m now writing about the disability evaluation and benefits system. The claims backlog has been widely reported, but few media outlets are covering this as in depth as we are. I’m looking at the problem of ‘why is there a backlog and how do we fix it?’” Moore said.