Update: We are delighted to present the stories produced through the mentorship program! The stories cover youth vote in northern Manhattan, a first-time voters’ guide for new U.S. citizens, how home country politics affects voting in American elections, the impact of Black sororities and fraternities on VP Kamala Harris’ campaign, the rights of jailed voters, and much more. Take a look at the stories completed by the participating journalists for each stage of the program: first round, second round and third round.
The Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY is pleased to introduce the cohort for the 2024 Elections Reporting Mentorship program.
The 16 journalists will produce a total of 48 stories, covering neighborhoods across the five boroughs, from the South Bronx, down to northern Manhattan and Harlem, over to Sunnyside, Queens, and south to Bushwick. The participating journalists will cover communities of color and immigrant communities including: Caribbean, Latino, Arab, Irish, South Asian, and Chinese communities; and will report in English, Spanish, Nepali, Arabic, and Chinese.
Each journalist will produce three in-depth stories on this year’s elections for our virtual program from now through June. From covering campaigns to identifying local issues, amplifying community voices and participation, and empowering voters in their communities to make informed decisions in November, the fellows will publish the gamut of stories in established community media outlets based in the New York metropolitan area. The stories will be published in an established community media outlet based in the New York metropolitan area.
We are excited to share the stories produced through the mentorship program! The stories range from covering the youth vote in northern Manhattan, a first-time voters’ guide for new U.S. citizens, how home country politics affects voting in American elections, the impact of Black sororities and fraternities on VP Kamala Harris’ campaign, the rights of jailed voters, and much more. Take a look at the stories completed by the participating journalists for each phase of the program: the first round, second round, and third round.
The program aims to produce stories that cover the 2024 election cycle in a way that only this media sector can: Capturing the concerns and voices in the neighborhoods, enclaves, communities, and languages too often overlooked by “mainstream” media. This program aims to produce election stories that contribute to a more robust, diverse, and well-rounded representation of election season coverage that has become so fraught with misinformation, disinformation, interference, and a lack of diverse viewpoints.
We are excited to have CCM’s newsletter editor, Mythili Sampathkumar, as the editor of the mentorship program. She will work one-on-one with each of the journalists to help them turn their drafts into developed and in-depth stories.
Mythili is a freelance journalist based in NYC with bylines in and editing experience with several news outlets like The New York Times, L.A. Times, Fortune, Forbes, NBC News, Daily Beast, The Hindu, Vox, Teen Vogue, The New Republic, and others. She has covered US politics, climate change, tech, education, and many stories in between. Mythili is also a former staff reporter/editor at The Independent, former contractor with both the Facebook and Twitter news curation teams, and president emeritus of the South Asian Journalist Association. She now works with the Center for Community Media as the Newsletter Editor. In her spare time, Mythili is also a recycled collage artist.
Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on the stories produced by the cohort. The mentorship continues CCM’s annual reporting programs, which in the past has focused on small businesses, New York State elections, and New York City elections.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
Meet the Cohort
Czarinna Andres
✏️ Editor
📍 QNS
Czarinna currently serves as editor-in-chief for print and digital publications in the borough of Queens including QNS, Queens Courier, Times Ledger, BORO magazine, and the Queens Post sites. Prior to joining the Schneps Media company, she owned and operated the Queens Post sites, which cover 10 hyperlocal news sites in Queens. Czarinna is originally from the Philippines, where she graduated with a communications management degree.
Lotus Chau
✏️ Editor
📍 Sing Tao Daily, New York
Lotus Chau is the chief reporter of Sing Tao Daily, a Chinese-language newspaper where she has worked since 1997, covering politics. Lotus grew up and studied in Hong Kong. She moved to New York City in 1988.
Mary Cunningham
✏️ Freelance Journalist
📍 City Limits
Mary is a Massachusetts-bred, Brooklyn-based reporter who loves to tell stories about New York City, particularly on the housing and climate beats. She received her master’s degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and now works as a News Associate at CBS and freelancer for City Limits.
Sherica Daley
✏️ Freelance Journalist
📍 The Chief, The New York Amsterdam, BQE’s Queens Ledger, Queens Examiner, Forest Hills Times
Sherica Daley is a Bronx-based freelance journalist experienced in community-based business and finance stories. She graduated from Lehman College-CUNY with a BA in Mass Communication. She enjoys photography and has a goal to use the 2024 reporting mentorship to be a full-time reporter for a major New York City news outlet or news network.
Angie Damlakhi
✏️ Publisher, Editor
📍 Allewaa Alarabi Newspaper
Angie Damlakhi, has been the owner, reporter and editor of Allewaa Alarabi for more than 27 years. Allewaa Alarabi is one of the oldest Arabic language newspapers in New York. Her journalism focuses on the greater empowerment of immigrant communities for more active civic engagement.
Cynthia M. Horner
✏️ Editor (Harlem Community News), Publisher (Right On! Digital)
📍 Harlem Community News, Right On! Digital
During her tenure as a top editor for popular newsstand magazines, Cynthia has been responsible for creating and producing hundreds of issues of magazines appealing to the pop, urban, and Latino markets while specializing in the entertainment beat. A graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California,she brought many artists, like Michael Jackson and Prince, to public attention during her stint at Right On! Magazine, one of the most influential magazines in the history of African-American culture.
Ariama C. Long
✏️ News Reporter
📍 Amsterdam News
Ariama, a born and raised Brooklynite, covered local politics, elections, impactful arts and culture stories for PoliticsNY, amNew York Metro, and other Brooklyn publications. She was a multimedia journalist through the Poynter-Koch Fellowship for 2020-2021 and the Report for America Fellowship for 2021-2024. Ariama also worked as an audio reporting intern at WNYC’s newsroom and Heritage Radio Network. Ariama matriculated from CUNY’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in 2018. She now works at New York Amsterdam News, the city’s oldest historically Black newspaper publication.
Sherry Mazzocchi
✏️ Freelance Journalist
📍 Manhattan Times, Bronx Free Press
Sherry covers Northern Manhattan for the Manhattan Times. She is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Peter McDermott
✏️ Deputy Editor
📍 Irish Echo
Peter has been a full-time member of the Irish Echo’s editorial team since 2004. He is currently deputy editor overseeing arts and sports coverage and a feature writer. He was born and raised in Dublin where he graduated from University College Dublin (BA, MA).
Alec Meeker
✏️ Publisher, Journalist
📍 Bushwick Daily
Alec is the publisher of Bushwick Daily and has nearly a decade of experience in NYC media and innovation. His combined expertise in finance and community journalism not only drives innovation in local journalism but also strengthens community ties. In his leadership role, he has overseen the publication of thousands of original local reports and has personally contributed dozens of articles.
Lavina Melwani
✏️ Publisher, Writer
📍 Lassi with Lavina
Lavina has written for several international media including the Wall Street Journal, India Today, The Hindu, Newsday, Gulf News, and The Tatler. Her weekly columns have been published at Beliefnet.com, CNBC TV-18 and Hindustan Times. She also publishes the online magazine Lassi with Lavina, which covers the Indian diaspora, and also writes features for The Week, Khabar, and Hinduism Today. Lavina has received seven IPPIES from The New York Independent Press Association for longform writing and two New America Media Awards for investigative reporting and feature writing.
Rommel H Ojeda
✏️ Engagement Journalist
📍 Documented
Rommel is a multimedia reporter who leads the charge in the world of engagement journalism by harnessing innovative technologies and AI to enhance audience experiences. His contributions have garnered both national and international acclaim. He holds a masters degree in bilingual journalism from CUNY.
Kishor Panthi
✏️ Editor-in-Chief
📍 Khasokhas, NepYork
Kishor is a Nepali American journalist and founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas newspaper. He is also the editor-in-chief of NepYork. He was an editor, news anchor, and program host for ABC TV Nepal from 2008 to 2010 and its U.S. representative since 2010. He is the author of three books: Kampan (2018), Zero Mile (2022), and Untranslatable (2022). He was also the Society of Professional Journalists 2023 Diversity Leadership Fellow. Kishor has also received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his volunteer community journalism.
Pearl Phillip
✏️ Editor-in-Chief & Managing Editor | Radio & Podcast – Host & Producer
📍 The Immigrant’s Journal | Caribbean American Weekly, Workers’ World Today | New Black Voices, People, Power & Politics Radio Show & Podcast
In addition to being an editor-in-chief and managing editor, Pearl is also the host of People, Power & Politics, and Small Business Matters radio show and podcasts. She also serves as the president of the Chamber Coalition comprising the New American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), the African-American International Chamber of Commerce (AAICC), and the Hispanic-American International Chamber of Commerce (HAICC).
Sujeet Rajan
✏️ Editor-in-Chief
📍 India Overseas Report
Sujeet is an award-winning journalist and writer with more than two decades of experience working in India and the U.S.. His stints include working for The Times of India, in New Delhi, as bureau chief and editor of The North American Edition of The Indian Express; co-founder and editor-in-chief of The American Bazaar; the Sag Harbor Express, and as Executive Editor of several weekly publications and magazines, including News India Times, and Desi Talk, out of offices in New York, and New Jersey. He has also anchored and reported from New York and the United Nations, for several TV channels, including for a weekly program on Crossings TV, ITV Gold, and Rajya Sabha TV.
Gery Vereau-Alvan
✏️ Freelance Journalist
📍 Reporte Hispano, Ayllu Times of NYC
Gery Vereau has been a journalist and photographer for 38 years. He began in Chimbote, a province of Peru, in the 1980s, working for local newspapers, and later he was a correspondent for national newspapers until he went to work for the prestigious Caretas magazine. Since 2000, he has worked in newsrooms in New York and New Jersey, such as Hoy, Latin Week, Hispanic Hour, Noticia Hispanoamericana, NY al Día, Diario de México USA edition, and Reporte Hispano. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NHAJ), the New Jersey chapter, and the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).