Pulitzer Center Update August 23, 2024
Meet the Second Cohort of Ocean Reporting Fellows
Ocean Reporting Fellows Dive Into New Projects
The first cohort of the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network (ORN) wrapped up in July, with eight Fellows publishing in-depth, data, and investigative stories on the global shark trade, the U.S. seaweed industry, plastic waste, and the foreign ownership of national fishing industries.
The success of the first year of the ORN fellowship program—which provides the unique opportunity for freelance or staff journalists to spend a whole year pursuing an in-depth, investigative ocean story—resulted in a record number of applications for the second cohort.
They included strong proposals on many of the topics that we had specifically targeted, such as deep-sea mining and marine geoengineering, and they are represented in the cohort this year. We also were impressed by several projects that proposed extensive data use and innovative reporting techniques.
The 2024 ORN Fellows are:
- Elizabeth Claire Alberts (Belgium | Mongabay)
- Lisseth Boon (Venezuela | Armando.info)
- Helena Carpio (Venezuela | Prodavinci)
- Delger Erdenesanaa (U.S. | The New York Times)
- Alec Luhn (U.K. | Scientific American)
- Davide Mancini (Spain | Voxeurop)
- Katie McQue (U.S. | Context News)
- Saroj Pathirana (Sri Lanka | Watershed Investigations)
- Borso Tall (Senegal | The Post & Courier)
- Jenn Thornhill Verma (Canada | The Globe and Mail)
In addition to benefiting from one another’s skills and diverse perspectives as part of a cohort, the 10 Fellows will receive funding, training, and the support of dedicated editors from the Pulitzer Center’s Environmental Investigations Unit. Further support from the Center’s Engagement team will help the Fellows amplify their stories, engage with their audience, and measure impact.
Ocean reporting is a critical piece of the environmental and climate science landscape. But it remains underfunded, expensive, and challenging, and the topics are comparatively unreported. Deeper and more ambitious reporting is needed to elevate more stories and drive real-word change that will benefit species, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on their health.
We look forward to working with our Fellows in an exciting year of ocean reporting projects! Learn more about each Fellow and their projects, and follow @Ocean_ORN to stay involved.
Best,
Impact
The Confession, a documentary from Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines, is nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish. The documentary captures the powerful confession by a Colombian colonel of his role in the deaths of 53 innocent civilians. The colonel seeks forgiveness from the victims' families in exchange for amnesty. News and Documentary Emmy Award winners will be presented in two ceremonies on September 25 and 26, 2024, in New York.
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This message first appeared in the August 23, 2024, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.
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