College Media Roundtable: Hadriana Lowenkron & J.D. Duggan

05/04/21 • 32 min

In this episode, Emmy Liederman is joined by two other student journalists, Hadriana Lowenkron and J.D. Duggan. Hadriana is the editor-in-chief of The Daily Pennsylvanian and J.D. is the city editor of The Minnesota Daily.

They share what they’ve learned from covering race relations in their cities over the past year and best practices for making sure that all audiences are adequately represented in their reporting, as well as how they manage their mental health and take time for themselves. Hadriana and J.D. stressed that showing up to events and being eager to learn — even when you don’t have a byline — is the best way to help people tell their own stories.

They are candid about the struggles of being student journalists, but are also certain that this is made worthwhile by the fulfilment that comes from being in a newsroom, holding people in positions of power accountable and making a direct impact on the communities that they serve.

Important Links

Hadriana's Twitter

J.D.'s Twitter

Important Links

Hadriana's Twitter

J.D.'s Twitter

Previous Episode

Columnist, Book Author, Professor Fernanda Santos

In this episode, Emmy Liederman is joined by multilingual journalist and author Fernanda Santos. Santos was the first Brazilian to work as a staff writer at The New York Times, where covered the American Southwest. She is now a full-time professor at Arizona State University and a contributing columnist at The Washington Post.

Fernanda’s book, “The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshot,” honors the men who died together in one of the deadliest days in American firefighting. Her connection to these victims and their relentless sense of unity is also the subject of her Ted Talk. In this episode, she talked about how she maintains trust with her sources, best practices for pitching the right stories and how she continues to learn alongside her students every day. Santos also discussed her journey to rediscovering joy after the sudden death of her husband Mike Saucier, who was also a journalist and author.

We also paid tribute to TCNJ journalism professor Robert Cole through a segment with alum Brian Hershberg, who thanks Cole for giving him the confidence he needed to build a successful career.

Important Links:

Fernanda’s TED Talk, website, and Twitter

Next Episode

Kassidy Arena (Iowa Public Radio & Report For America)

This week, Mark Simon and Emmy Liederman are joined by Kassidy Arena, a reporter for Iowa Public Radio and a product of the Report For America program.

Kassidy talked about her radio career and the work she does covering issues impacting Iowa’s growing Latino community. She also discussed her background as a journalist and how she didn’t think she would go into radio because she was hard of hearing, but was able to carve a path that led to her current position.

Kassidy also continued discussions we’ve had on previous episodes regarding building trust in your sources and reporting for people rather than at them. She also gave her thoughts on the value of the Report for America program and Iowa Public Radio, and paid tribute to a recently deceased colleague in the industry.

Mark and Emmy then discussed Kassidy’s interview. Mike Fabey provided this week’s tribute to Dr. Cole.

Thank you for listening. Please rate and review if you can. Stay safe and stay well.

Important Links

Kassidy’s story on Iowa’s English-only law