Kent State senior Anna Huntsman was chosen among top journalism students in the nation to travel to Arizona State University this summer and investigate disaster recovery efforts in the United States.
The prestigious News21 Fellowship awards 24 students from journalism programs across the U.S., Canada and Ireland the chance to travel across the country to report and produce stories each summer.
Students from Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) have been selected for this selective fellowship year after year. This past semester, Huntsman has been participating in weekly webinars to prepare for the summer fellowship. She has been assigned to report on the rise of building and housing developments in areas deemed at-risk for natural disasters and whether building codes and FEMA regulations have been followed. She has also been assigned to help create a podcast for the project, drawing on her experience creating the KentWired.com podcast KENT-repreneur.
She shared insight about what she is looking forward to and how the fellowship fits into her career goals.
This year’s topic is natural disaster focused. What most excites you about this fellowship?
When I think about what my goals are as a journalist, I've always said (that) I would love to travel and cover stories that are extremely public policy-driven, and about major issues that are affecting Americans. I always said I would love to be assigned a story somewhere and be sent there and then come back to the base and edit and report the heck out of it. And so that's always been my goal for, whenever I'm you know, 10 to 15 years in the field. I never thought I could do it before then. And so, when (Sue Kirkman Zake, assistant professor and student media adviser) approached me about News21, I was like, ‘If I would get this, I could do that goal of mine right after I graduate and have that experience so early in my career.’
Why is this opportunity so important to you?
It's such a great experience. But the fact that the story this summer is about natural disasters and how the government responds to them is like something I've always wanted to do a story on. … There are incredible places I could go, you know, we're talking about New Orleans for Katrina; California, for the wildfires; Puerto Rico, for Irma and Maria. … I'm just so honored I get to be a part of the team that's going to be covering them.
How has Kent State prepared you for this opportunity?
This place has felt like a home for me ever since I started at Kent State. … I think that my classes have greatly prepared me for this, example being Storytelling with Sound and Reporting Public Policy, where I got my first taste of public policy reporting, and it just made me want to do it more and learn more about it. Student Media, which is a huge part of my college experience, has absolutely prepared me for it. It's because I've been able to do so many different opportunities that I found my career goals shift and grow.
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News21 fellows will be led by Executive Editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jacquee Petchel. Previous News21 projects have included investigations into voting rights, post-9/11 veterans, marijuana laws, guns in America, drinking water safety and hate crimes. Portions of those investigations have been published by major news organizations including the Washington Post, NBC News, the Center for Public Integrity, USA Today, as well as many non-profit news websites.
The projects have won five EPPY Awards from Editor & Publisher magazine, two Student Edward R. Murrow Awards, and a host of honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Hearst Awards Program.
Huntsman said she would also like to thank her alumna donor Diane Laney Fitzpatrick who has sponsored the fellowship.