Master’s Student Jessica Pupovac to Represent Missouri in News21 Fellowship Program
Columbia, Mo. (Jan. 23, 2012) — Master’s student Jessica Pupovac will represent the Missouri School of Journalism in the News21 fellowship program. Pupovac, along with 11 other representatives from the nation’s top research universities, will participate in a spring seminar on the University of Arizona campus and then collaborate for a 10-week project in the summer.
News21 was established in 2006 as part of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The program is dedicated to providing an opportunity for in-depth, innovative and interactive investigative journalism to the nation’s top journalism students. Each year, students focus on a different topic. The 2012 topic is voter rights.
“Carnegie Knight is looking for the best all-around reporter,” said Lynda Kraxberger, the chair of the convergence journalism faculty. “This includes the ability to work in multiple media and ability to dig deep into the story and do investigative journalism that matters.”
Kraxberger also said Pupovac’s portfolio is filled with evidence of her commitment to stories that are vital to underrepresented populations.
“Jessica cares deeply about her work,” she said. “Jessica goes into stories that others see too difficult to tackle. The field of applicants included a lot of very talented people. They all would have represented the university well. It was Jessica’s previous experience and stories that put her above the rest.”
Pupovac is currently interning at NPR in Washington, D.C. This past summer, she worked as a research intern at the The New York Times and volunteered at the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting. Pupovac also has worked as an editor at the Chicago Journal and as a reporter for Chi-Town Daily News. In 2008, Pupovac received the Peter Lisagor Award for best in-depth reporting in a general-interest publication from the Chicago Headline Club. She also received the Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus in 2010. Pupovac will graduate with her master’s degree in May.
Pupovac said she is honored to represent the school and is looking forward to putting some of the multimedia and computer-assisted reporting skills learned at Missouri to work.
“It will be exciting to work with other dedicated journalism students from around the country and see what we can do with the unusual amount of time and resources invested into this program,” Pupovac said.
Updated: June 4, 2020