The Lead

UGA’s Denetra Walker on creating change through social justice journalism

It’s Denetra Walker’s second semester teaching at the University of Georgia and she’s just getting started. After a multitude of experiences in the broadcast journalism field, she’s teaching social justice journalism and journalism ethics, all while providing mentorship and representation for students in the classroom.

In this episode, we chat about what social justice journalism is and why it’s crucial for the future of storytelling.

“Your dreams should be so big that it scares you. And if your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming big enough.”

Guest: Denetra Walker, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Georgia.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

Grist’s Lylla Younes on environmental storytelling

Lylla Younes’ work has had an impact. Her work mapping cancer-causing industrial pollution in Louisiana for ProPublica helped lead to a plastic manufacturer’s permit to be suspended. She’s written about oil spills, hazardous waste and a tanker off the coast of Yemen that’s poised to cause an environmental disaster.

She’s now a staff writer at Grist, a nonprofit telling stories at the intersection of climate and justice. In this episode, we chat about her path to data and environmental journalism, her work as an investigative reporter and all the intersections environment stories contain.

Lylla’s project she mentions is called “We Were Not Allowed To Mourn.” It tells the stories of New York’s Arab and Muslim community after 9/11 and can be found here.

“I think the best stories, the ones that I want to tell myself, often have an eye for both the very close view and the local and that specific instance, and also the larger systemic forces at play, and are able to kind of balance those two perspectives.”

Guest: Lylla Younes, staff writer at Grist.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

Atlanta Magazine’s Kamille Whittaker on recording Black history

Kamille Whittaker’s career is intimately intertwined with the Black Press, starting with her time as an intern. Since then, she’s worn many different hats and is now a managing editor at Atlanta Magazine, where she puts together a product that truly tells the stories of the city. 

In this episode, we chat about her work at the magazine, her role as a training director at the nonprofit Canopy Atlanta and her project “Perhaps, To Bloom,” which aims to celebrate the cultural impact of Caribbean communities in Atlanta and the South.

“Connect yourself to a writing tradition, or storytelling tradition, or storytelling genealogy. … It really kind of guides you and guides your steps.”

Guest: Kamille Whittaker, managing editor at Atlanta Magazine, training director at Canopy Atlanta and 2023 Cox Institute Industry Fellow.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Erin Schilling on the joy of editing

It’s only been a couple of years since Erin Schilling graduated from the University of Georgia, but she’s already a digital editor at the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In this episode, we chat about the skills that got her there, what she likes about business reporting and one of her favorite stories — that started with her being scooped.

“There’s a level of give and take there when you’re editing, that you’re not trying to rewrite someone’s work, you’re just trying to help them make it shine more.”

Guest: Erin Schilling, digital editor at the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

Paul Glader on getting out of the office

Paul Glader’s reporting has taken him all over, from California to Sweden and Germany. He spent 10 years at The Wall Street Journal, where he covered business, travel, technology and even metals and mining. In this episode, we’re chatting about his international experiences, his work as a professor in New York City and the good old basics of reporting.

His piece about a chance meeting with a relative that led to him traveling to Sweden, “A journey up the family tree,” can be found here.

“The best advice I got was, dude, you’re not gonna find a story sitting here in your cubicle. And so you need to get outside and go find a story.”

Guest: Paul Glader, journalism professor at The King’s College in New York City, executive director of The Media Project and director of the Dow Jones News Fund business reporting program.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

UGA’s Vicki Michaelis on sports journalism’s expansive impact

Vicki Michaelis is one of few people who have witnessed Michael Phelps win every one of his Olympic medals. After 12 years as USA Today’s lead Olympics reporter, she now teaches sports journalism classes at the University of Georgia. In this episode, we talk about her career path, what drew her to teaching and her advice for aspiring sports journalists.

“I loved that sports are a microcosm of life and that they both reflect and can help change things in society.”

Guest: Vicki Michaelis, director of the John Huland Carmical Sports Media Institute at UGA.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

GPB’s Stephen Fowler on political reporting and the power of radio

What does it take to cover politics in a state as crucial and rapidly changing as Georgia? In this episode, Stephen Fowler, a political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, has some answers. In this episode, we talk about covering the midterms, the gravity of covering local political news and the magic of radio storytelling.

The article Stephen mentions about the shoal bass, “On The Flint, A Fight For A Fish,” can be found here.

“Don’t wait for somebody to give you permission or assign you a story to do something.”

Guest: Stephen Fowler, political reporter for Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

NPR’s Pallavi Gogoi on making business stories that matter to people

Pallavi Gogoi has worked in financial journalism for most of her long and impressive career. She’s covered currencies and orange juice markets, and most recently worked as NPR’s chief business editor. Today, she joins The Lead to talk about the threads of storytelling that are woven in all types of journalism and writing business stories in ways that matter to people.

“When we cover economics and business, I feel that we are literally covering your life and my life.”

Guest: Pallavi Gogoi, former NPR chief business editor and current acting managing editor-daily report.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

Alyssa Pointer on people-focused photojournalism

Longform documentary storytelling is Alyssa Pointer’s specialty. She’s an independent photojournalist who wants her work, in her words, to make people give a damn about their neighbors. Alyssa has worked at multiple newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and now freelances while based in Atlanta. She joins The Lead to talk about her projects, her detainment while covering protests against police brutality in 2020 and telling the stories of the incredibly diverse South.

The project she mentions that is centered around an uncle and his two nephews using boxing to break generational cycles is called “Tough Love” and can be found here.

Guest: Alyssa Pointer, freelance photojournalist.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.

ProPublica’s Rui Kaneya on supporting local investigative news

Rui Kaneya, a senior editor at ProPublica, joins The Lead to talk about why local news is important and what it takes to become an investigative journalist. Rui oversees projects for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, which supports long-term projects at local news sources. He’s worked at multiple nonprofit news sources as an investigative reporter and editor, and was part of a team that won the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for a series about model legislation.

Guest: Rui Kaneya, senior editor at ProPublica.

Host: Jacqueline GaNun.