ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Sept. 3) — The Poynter Institute is pleased to announce the 26 journalists who have been named to the second cohort of the Public Media Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative, developed and delivered by the Poynter Institute and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

This nine-month fellowship is designed to prepare public media leaders for the challenges and opportunities presented by a changing media landscape, and represents the commitment of both CPB and Poynter to local journalism.

“Through the Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative, public media news managers are gaining valuable skills in guiding their newsrooms and ensuring ethical decision-making,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB senior vice president, journalism, radio and CSG services. “Skilled, effective editors are vital to producing content that upholds the highest editorial standards in producing independent reporting that informs an engaged civil society.”

Fellows consist of public media leaders from across the country, representing a range of station sizes and geography. A first round of 24 fellows was chosen in 2023 and trained through 2024. 

“We’re thrilled to work with this newest cohort as they focus on upholding journalism’s highest ethical and editorial standards,” said Sitara Nieves, Poynter’s vice president of teaching and organizational strategy. “Public media stations have never been more important to local communities across the country, and this fellowship will help strengthen the ability of stations to deliver trustworthy local news.”

The fellows are:

• Beau Baker, newscast editor and producer, KUNC – Community Radio for Northern Colorado (Greeley, Colorado)
• Adelyn Baxter, audience engagement editor, KTOO Public Media (Anchorage, Alaska)
• Brendan Byrne, assistant news director, Central Florida Public Media (Orlando, Florida)
• Andrew Catalina, news editor, Maine Public (Maine) 
• Corin Cates-Carney, news director, Montana Public Radio (Missoula, Montana)
• Jason deBruyn, supervising editor for digital news, NC Public Radio (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
• Tracci Dial, multimedia news director, Northwest Public Broadcasting (Pullman, Washington)
• Gabriela Fernandez, news director, KCBX Public Radio (San Luis Obispo, California)
• Ben Giles, senior editor, KJZZ (Tempe, Arizona)
• Alexander Gonzalez, senior editor, KQED (San Francisco)
• James Haddadin, investigative editor, Connecticut Public (Hartford, Connecticut)
• Kayla Hewitt, All Things Considered producer/editor, WAMU 88.5 (Washington, D.C.)
• Megan Kamerick, news director, KUNM (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• Kamila Kudelska, news director, Wyoming Public Media (Laramie, Wyoming)
• Chris Lehman, news director, KLCC  (Eugene, Oregon)
• Joey Palacios, engagement producer and internship coordinator, Texas Public Radio (San Antonio, Texas)
• Gabriela Resto-Montero, managing editor, Rocky Mountain PBS (Denver)
• Edward Ronco, news director, Interlochen Public Radio (Interlochen, Michigan)
• Emily Russell, reporter and assistant news director, North Country Public Radio (Canton, New York)
• Tom Scheck, deputy managing editor, APM Reports (Saint Paul, Minnesota)
• Julie Sidoni, director of journalism, WVIA Public Media (Pittston, Pennsylvania)
• Sage Smiley, news director, KYUK Public Media (Bethel, Alaska)
• Ryan Van Velzer, Kentucky Public Radio managing editor, Louisville Public Media (Louisville, Kentucky)
• Andrew Villegas, news director, Colorado Public Radio (Denver)
• Kristyna Wentz-Graff, photo editor, Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, Oregon)
• Andrew Yeager, managing editor, WBHM 90.3 (Birmingham, Alabama)

The fellows will convene this month in St. Petersburg, Florida, for an opening week of training, where they will identify a project to pursue during the nine-month fellowship; participate in in-depth training on ethics, leadership and community-focused news service; and be matched with mentors and coaches.

After the in-person program, fellows will continue participating remotely in training sessions, getting feedback from other colleagues in the fellowship, and continuing with regular one-on-one coaching sessions.

Training is led by Poynter’s Kelly McBride, senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership; Sitara Nieves, Poynter’s vice president of teaching and organizational strategy; and Poynter faculty Tony Elkins and Fernanda Camarena.

About CPB

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org.

About the Poynter Institute

The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is the gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.

The Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.

Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an essential for healthy democracies. Learn more at poynter.org