Three Newmark students have notched summer data journalism internships at two top nonprofit newsrooms — becoming the first to gain crucial work experience opportunities through the J-School’s Equity Through Data Project.
Ashley Borja and Max Rivera will be spending the summer at THE CITY, while Mia Hollie is heading to Chalkbeat’s New York newsroom. Each student will earn $8,000 for 10 weeks work, thanks to a generous grant from the Charles H. Revson Foundation.
Two of the students will be chosen to extend their internships into the fall, while one will ultimately earn a one-year, full-time post-graduate slot at THE CITY, beginning in January 2025. Next year, Newmark students will get the chance to apply for even more data internships, funded by Revson.
The internships are a key element of the recently launched Equity Through Data Project, which aims to train students from underrepresented backgrounds to become highly sought data reporters.
The longer-term goal is to establish the Project as a student-powered data journalism hub that serves local newsrooms, making the Newmark J-School a model for data journalism education, training and collaboration with news partners.
The Project, spearheaded by J-School Data Journalism Program Director Sandeep Junnarkar and Editorial Director Jere Hester, has so far raised $600,000 in grants from Revson and The New York Community Trust-Reznick Family Giving Fund.
The Project is also conducting data journalism training sessions for members of the J-School’s Center for Community Media, headed by Mikhael Simmonds — and is paying for selected students to attend Investigative Reporters & Editors’ NICAR data journalism conference in Baltimore in March.
Junnarkar, meanwhile, is leading the J-School’s partnership with the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University, one of the country’s oldest historically Black universities, to launch The Du Bois Data Lab. The lab will offer 15 undergraduate students from HBCUs places in a one-week intensive workshop taught by professional journalists of color at Howard beginning May 29.
That’s just around the time Borja, Hollie and Rivera, all enrolled in the J-School’s Data Journalism specialization, will be starting their summer internships. Here’s some more about each of them:
- Borja, a 22-year-old child of Latin American immigrants, grew up in Brooklyn and is the first to graduate college in her family. Borja, who is part of the J-School’s International Reporting program, is committed to covering social and political issues globally.
- Hollie, 25, is a New Jersey native who previously managed Morpho Magazine, a print and digital magazine by and for women and non-binary people of color. Hollie, who is part of the J-School’s Local Accountability Reporting concentration, wants to produce deeply reported stories about underserved communities
- Rivera, 38, is a former dishwasher, construction worker and FDNY firefighter whose byline has appeared in the New York Post and the Queens Daily Eagle. The Bronx native, who is part of the J-School’s Business and Economic Reporting program, aims to focus his data reporting on “shedding light on power imbalances” — uncovering stories “those in power would prefer to go untold.”