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First legal reporting fellows named

By Mark Obbie

Drum roll, please .... announcing the first Carnegie/Newhouse School Legal Reporting Fellowships. The program, described more fully here, subsidizes the work of four freelance writers with $3,000 awards -- and then sweetens the deal by paying Newhouse School journalism students to serve as the reporters' research assistants. The program has two goals: helping writers pursue important legal stories in the public interest, and helping students learn more about doing quality legal reporting. Without further ado, here are this year's fellows and research assistants:Fellows:

• Jim Edwards of Jersey City, N.J., who is researching a Web-based project to survey judicial conflicts of interest.
• Chandra R. Thomas of Atlanta, whose project focuses on the mass incarceration of the untreated mentally ill.
• Anita Wadhwani of Nashville, who is working on a prospective series that will look at how family courts are handling allegations of domestic violence in child custody disputes.
• Sharon Weinberger of Washington, D.C., whose project will examine a legally murky intersection between ethics and fraud in military contracting.

Research assistants:

• Melanie Hicken, a senior majoring in newspaper journalism, history, and political science, from Stevenson Ranch, Calif.
• Timothy Martinez, Jr., a senior majoring in newspaper journalism and political science, from Alhambra, Calif.
• Jamie Munks, a senior majoring in newspaper journalism and political science, from Granby, Conn.
• Kristen Putch, a senior majoring in newspaper journalism and history, from Ilion, N.Y.
• Cynthia Schweigert, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism and political science, from Cuba City, Wis.
• Claire Zillman, a senior majoring in newspaper journalism and history, from Maywood, Ill.

Once the fellows' work is published, we'll happily share more details on their projects. Meantime, wish us luck as we conduct this experiment in professional/student collaboration.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on October 03, 2008 (boomark / email).