Behind the Stories

The news media is facing a reckoning over diversity, equity and inclusion. UConn Journalism students Samara Thacker, Courtney Gavitt and Jordana Castelli go behind the stories to find out how journalists should cover race and racism, and how to avoid practices and reflexes that marginalize people. Featuring interviews with SNY sports anchor Chris Williamson, NextShark head of business development Waylae Gregoire, and UConn Journalism Professor in Residence Gail MacDonald. Hosted and edited by UConn Journalism junior Naiela Suleiman. Recorded in April 2021. Photo by Faith Eselé on Unsplash

UConn Journalism students Izzi Barton, Brendan Carpenter and Raquel Williamson go behind the stories to find out how journalists adapted to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Charles Sennott, founder and editor of The GroundTruth Project, explained how Report for America reporters had to do their work "with incredible respect" for the pandemic and the job of the journalist in times of crisis. ESPN Features production assistant Daniela Marulanda said she had to shift her perspective on virtual reporting, seeing it as a personal challenge to test her abilities as a storyteller. Hartford Courant reporter Emily Brindley described how she got a crash course in covering public health while her newsroom permanently closed during the pandemic. Hosted by UConn Journalism senior Rachel Philipson. Featured music: In the Dark by Crowander Additional reading: With the Loss of Physical Newsrooms, How are Young Journalists Faring? The coronavirus has closed more than 70 local newsrooms across America. And counting. Virtual Newsroom: getting journalism done in a digital age COVID-19 Is Crushing Newspapers, Worsening Hunger for Accurate Information Hartford Courant, oldest US newspaper, to close its offices The Hartford Courant’s newsroom is closing down .

The Crash Course newsletter team brings you 'behind the stories' with three Connecticut political journalists — Daniela Altimari of The Hartford Courant, Emilie Munson of Hearst Connecticut, and Amber Diaz of WTNH-TV. We hear about their experiences covering the 2020 election and the coronavirus pandemic. We also had them tell us what issues they’ll be focusing on now that the unprecedented 2020 election season is behind us. Reporting is brought to you by UConn Journalism majors Ashley Anglisano, Ben Crnic and Allison O’Donnell, with Fiona Brady and Mike Mavredakis as your hosts. The project is overseen by UConn Journalism Associate Prof. Marie K. Shanahan. The music featured in this podcast is 'Acoustic Breeze' by Ben Sound. Read and subscribe to UConn Journalism's Crash Course newsletter at https://crashcourse.substack.com

UConn Journalism senior Adam Hushin dissects one of the key rights afforded by the First Amendment—freedom of peaceful assembly. In particular, he sought out the recipe for a successful protest or rally. Is it how many people attend? Is it media coverage? Hushin interviewed representatives from UConn PIRG, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, the Women's March, the Connecticut chapter of the ACLU, and an editor from The New Britain Herald to find out how the success of a protest is measured. Watch an accompanying animation about this project at https://wp.me/p3PtH2-rz Photo by Michelle Ding via Unsplash

Derek Slap, Mary Glassman and Lonnie Reed are three Connecticut politicians who began their careers in journalism and made the switch to politics. In this podcast hosted by UConn Journalism senior Ryley McGinnis, Slap, Glassman and Reed outline what motivated them to go into journalism, why they left the industry for politics, and how they think their news experience prepared them for elected office.