Fractured democracy: Student journalists tackle America’s political divide through News21 fellowship

Pauline Arrillaga, executive director at the National Center on Disability and Journalism at ASU, has also served as the News21 executive director for the past two years.

We brought in people like David Becker, the executive director for the Center for Election Innovation & Research. We brought in people from the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, from the Brennan Center for Justice and the ACLU to talk about voting rights.”

Pauline Arrillaga

This summer, student journalists deployed across the country to report on the state of American democracy. They formed a distinguished group chosen for the Carnegie-Knight News21 fellowship project, administered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University (ASU). They hailed from ASU and universities all across the country, where they’ve studied print/digital reporting, photography, video, audio and graphics.

Pauline Arrillaga, executive director at the National Center on Disability and Journalism at ASU, has also served as the News21 executive director for the past two years. In 2024, the democracy-focused project was aptly named “Fractured.”

News21 is funded from several sources — news outlets, like the Arizona Republic, and philanthropic foundations. Each participating university provides funding. It costs $12,000 for each fellow, Arrillaga said. They receive an $8,000 stipend, and $4,000 covers their travel expenses.

From January to April, the fellows met virtually once a week and learned from experts. “We brought in people like David Becker, the executive director for the Center for Election Innovation & Research. We brought in people from the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, from the Brennan Center for Justice and the ACLU to talk about voting rights,” Arrillaga said.

News21 photographer Hudson French is seen here at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. (Photo credit: Adriana Zahbrauskas/News21)

After months of research, the fellows presented their pitches.

“We had one reporter who wanted to work on efforts to restore voter trust and faith in the process,” Arrillaga said.

“We had two fellows on the ground in Alabama for a week, reporting on redistricting and voting rights in the Black community,” she recalled. Three fellows traveled to several states to report on threats to election officials and produced an 18-minute documentary.

News21 Fellow Gabi Morando grabs an interview outside the Republican National Convention. (Photo credit: Adriana Zehbrauskas/News21)

Another fellow created an explainer series and quiz about detecting deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation.

“We had some spectacular photographers this year, so they tracked down and spent a lot of time with people who were all at the Capitol during the insurrection and did a great photo essay,” Arrillaga said.

Romie Avivi Stuhl is a senior at the University of Oregon, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in nonprofit administration. She learned about the News21 fellowship from a professor. Though she came to it without prior experience in political coverage, she saw an opportunity to tell the story from a fresh perspective.

2024 News21 Fellow Romie Avivi Stuhl is a senior at the University of Oregon, where she’s studying journalism and nonprofit administration. She traveled to ASU and several states as part of the project, speaking with people across the political spectrum about democracy and the democratic process.

“I wanted to focus on people who are trying to fix some of the problems we have. … I wanted to talk about how people were trying to address those issues and maybe bring a small amount of positivity to the topic and highlight how people have been working across the aisle,” she said.

After months of cultivating sources, she traveled to Wisconsin and Michigan to speak with people from the political spectrum.

“I talked to people whose views were different than mine. As a journalist, one of the most important things is learning to put your views and perspectives aside. One thing that was really special for me was getting to connect and learn from the story of somebody who maybe has a different personal view and making that person feel heard in that conversation,” she reflected.

In Michigan, Stuhl attended a closed-door meeting of conservative public officials. “I knew that if I didn’t attend and I didn’t write it, the public wouldn’t know what was going on and definitely wouldn’t be able to hear those intimate conversations. The sources were anonymous, except for those who said they were comfortable being quoted, but it was still special to bring those stories to the page.”

Gretchen A. Peck is a contributing editor to Editor & Publisher. She's reported for E&P since 2010 and welcomes comments at gretchenapeck@gmail.com.