Master’s Student Steven Rich Chosen for Nationally Acclaimed News21 Program
Columbia, Mo. (April 3, 2013) — Master’s student Steven Rich has been selected as the Missouri School of Journalism 2013 fellow for the nationally acclaimed News21 program.
He will join a group of some of the nation’s most talented journalism students to report and produce in-depth, multimedia projects for major national media.
News21 helps train a new generation of journalists capable of reshaping the news industry. The students take on significant issues ranging from religion in America to money in politics. Their work is published in national publications and has been honored in multiple journalism awards contests. The News21 fellowship program is the cornerstone of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.
The selection team consisted of representatives from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting – both headquartered at the School – and KOMU-TV.
Rich impressed the committee with his growing body of work that shows attention to public policy journalism. They also noted that he already has a good foundation with beginning coding skills and shows a desire to tell stories visually using interactive graphics.
The selection team said that Rich consistently shows that he is not afraid to “dig in” and ask deeper questions, where others might be content to settle for glib answers. One example of this was a story Rich developed on Columbia’s transit budget for the Columbia Missourian. It was among several awards he received in the 2012 Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for his work on the public life beat at the Missourian.
Rich is currently interning with the investigations unit at the Washington Post in Washington, D.C. Before starting at the Post, he worked as an intern and freelancer for the database team at USA Today. Rich has previously worked as a researcher for New York Times investigative reporter Ian Urbina and as data applications editor at the Missourian.
Rich will graduate with his master’s degree in May. He earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech.
Updated: July 14, 2020