The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education [MIJE], a national nonprofit dedicated to making newsrooms look like America and to bring about equity and belonging in media, announced the 44 fellows selected for Maynard 200, the third cohort of its flagship fellowship.

ABS-CBN International’s News Correspondent and MYX News Supervising Producer Steve Angeles and News Correspondent Rommel Conclara were selected from a competitive pool of over 140 applicants. The fellows represent a mix of mainstream, ethnic, local community and niche media, and their entrepreneurial ventures. The Maynard 200 fellowship will provide cutting-edge training and year-long mentorship from top experts.

The 2021 class reflects a profound pivot from diversity to belonging. These professionals will provide the energy helping to power the culture shift in America’s newsrooms. Calls by journalists of color for equity and dismantling systemic racism in the news media are profound and will be answered through the work of these fellows.

“We are energized by our fellows’ nuanced coverage, wide spectrum of diverse perspectives, empathetic leadership and innovative entrepreneurial ventures,” said Odette Alcazaren-Keeley, director of Maynard 200. “They will find allyship in and bolster the program’s mission of reinvigorating the media’s diversity pipeline now sharpened by the crises of our time amid our global pandemic recovery and racial justice reckoning.

“Despite our digital pivot for the first training week because of public health protocols for COVID-19, we are committed to deliver the same excellent program this year, aiming to amplify the collective impact of our cohort.”

This year’s Maynard 200 Fellowship will begin with a virtual training week, ongoing until April 16. The second training round is scheduled in person this November if protocols allow.

Maynard 200’s three-track curriculum delivers a mix of content, expertise and perspectives and includes: Executive Leadership, Media Entrepreneurship, and Storytelling.

Fellows hail from a wide range of publications, including national publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, AJ+/Al Jazeera Intl, Univision, Los Angeles Times; local outlets including Decibel-Austin PBS, KUER NPR Utah, Arizona Daily Star, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer; and ethnicity-specific outlets including El Reportero, Asian Avenue Magazine, Univision 14 Bay Area, and ABS-CBN International The Filipino Channel; as well as freelance reporters.

Participating in the Maynard 200 Fellowship – Executive Leadership track [L-R]: Rajeswari Ramanathan, Michelle Faust Raghavan, Ross Terrell, Steve Angeles, Gary Estwick, Samantha Guzman, Benét J. Wilson, Khalilah L. Liptrot, Lottie Joiner, Ashton R. Lattimore, Tripp J Crouse, Charmayne Brown, Tasha Stewart, Marian Liu, Anica Butler

Angeles, who joins the Executive Leadership track, looks forward to using the new skills he will learn. He shares that, “As we grow and evolve in our own newsroom, Maynard is an awesome opportunity for me to find new ways to serve the community, as I take on diverse ways to tell our stories such as developing new programs and through the MYX News team.”

Participating in the Maynard 200 Fellowship – Storytelling track [L-R]: Jasmine Vaughn-Hall, Rommel Conclara, Estephany Haro, Eleanore Catolico, Ruslan Gurzhiy, Thalia Juarez, Herb Pinder, Sameea A. Kamal, Mark Walker, Cortlynn Stark, Sarah Mizes-Tan, Angela Chen, Marina Affo, Stephanie Casanova, Dalia Hatuqa

Conclara, who is participating in the Storytelling (Investigative Journalism) track,  hopes to harness his skills in investigative journalism to continue his service to the Filipino community. He adds that he looks forward to “expand my network of professionals and experts in order to provide more credibility and innovation in storytelling.”

“We are fortunate to have accomplished leaders in charge of each of our training tracks — award-winning investigative reporter and author Aaron Glantz in Storytelling, media strategist Dickson Louie in Media Entrepreneurship and former newsroom C-suite executive Virgil Smith in Executive Leadership,” said Evelyn Hsu, co-executive director of the Maynard Institute and the architect of Maynard 200. “They are joined by accomplished and devoted professionals who teach and mentor our participants. Our faculty are key to building the next generation of journalists of color.”

“Given the demographics of the nation and the shift to have people pay for the news they use, the need to have media professionals that represent the wide diaspora of lives and cultures isn’t just the right thing to do,” said Martin G. Reynolds, the institute’s co-executive director. “It is imperative if journalism is to be seen as accurate, authentic, trustworthy and credible. It’s not hyperbole to say that the soul of journalism is at stake in this moment and in this time.”

The program is tuition-free thanks to funding by Google News Initiative, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Hearthland Foundation, and the McClatchy Foundation.

 

ABOUT THE MAYNARD INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM EDUCATION

The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education is the nation’s oldest organization dedicated to helping the news media accurately portray all segments of society, particularly those often overlooked, such as communities of color. The media play a pivotal role in shaping our perceptions of each other. The distorted coverage of communities of color influences public policy and the decisions we make in our personal lives.