Type Investigations is pleased to announce the 2023 Ida B. Wells Fellows. The fellows are emerging and mid-career journalists working in a variety of media formats and outlets. Each fellow receives a $25,000 stipend, plus funds to cover reporting costs for their first substantial piece of investigative reporting. During the year-long program, fellows receive intensive editorial mentoring, legal counsel, research resources, and assistance with story placement and publicity.
”These reporters have exceptionally deep connections and dedication to underserved communities,” said Noy Thrupkaew, the director of the Ida B. Wells fellowship program, who is also a reporting fellow at Type Investigations. “Their experience and expertise are vital additions to investigative journalism.”
Now in its eighth year, the Ida B. Wells Fellowship competition is held annually. Each year, Type Investigations also selects a Southern Fellow drawn from a nine-state region in the south, where Ida B. Wells was from and where her anti-lynching reporting was based.
This year’s fellows will explore topics including immigration and health care, the collegiate accreditation process, and police surveillance in Milwaukee. Past fellows have published investigations that helped to drive legislative change, launch public initiatives, and spark public hearings.
Learn more about the Ida B. Wells Fellowship program and past fellows here.
Breya Jones is our Southern Fellow. She’s based in Louisville, Kentucky, where she covers arts and culture for NPR member station Louisville Public Media. While at LPM, she has focused on highlighting the voices of historically underrepresented communities, covering issues including arts initiatives in neighborhoods of color, inequities in the public park system, and the continued community response to the police killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020. Born and raised in Louisville, Jones attended DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where she studied journalism and political science. She will be investigating higher art education and the collegiate accreditation process.
"I'm excited to be able to connect with other early and mid-career journalists about our investigative interest, help each other grow in our craft and take advantage of all the resources Type Investigations is offering us," Jones said of the honor. "Ida B Wells is such important figure to me as Black, woman reporter, so to be part of fellowship named for her is an honor."
Liset Cruz is a bilingual Mexican-American journalist committed to holding powerful institutions accountable, creating accessible news, and working on the ground to engage with underserved communities. She holds two B.A. degrees from the University of Georgia, and an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School’s specialized Toni Stabile investigative program. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Marshall Project, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as several other local Georgia publications. She will report on the intersection of immigration and health care.
Isiah Holmes is a multimedia reporter for The Wisconsin Examiner, and a lifelong resident of Milwaukee. His writing has been featured in Urban Milwaukee, Isthmus, Milwaukee Stories, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Services, The Pontiac Tribune, The Progressive, Al Jazeera, and other outlets. At The Wisconsin Examiner, Holmes covers criminal justice, environmental issues, housing, state policy impacts on Milwaukee, and more. Over the last several years, Holmes has won several Milwaukee Press Club awards for his reporting, as well as the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council’s Media Openness Award and the Sierra Club’s Environmental Hero award. He will investigate reports of police surveillance in Milwaukee.
The Ida B. Wells Fellowship Program is made possible by the generosity of the Foundation for a Just Society and the Present Progressive Fund at Schwab Charitable. The Ida B. Wells Fellowship is a one-time educational opportunity and is non-renewable.
This story is shared, with permission, from Type Investigations with additional information.
