A new, expanded journalism team is coming to Stockton as part of our pursuit of watchdog journalism that serves the community.
NEWSWELL, the nonprofit collective that supports Stocktonia and other newsrooms across California, is launching a statewide investigative journalism team to publish more high-impact stories that affect our communities.
“Local newsrooms can have tremendous impact when they get the right support. Everything we’ve built at NEWSWELL so far has helped us prove this,” Carroll said. “This new expansion empowers us to take the next step toward a new model for nonprofit news.”
The new team will be staffed by five investigative journalists based in and around NEWSWELL communities, and every piece of their work will focus on two priorities: impact and audience connection.
NEWSWELL newsrooms have already seen success in investigative reporting, particularly at Stocktonia. In the past year, that newsroom’s efforts have won it five prizes from the California News Publishers Association, including first-place in its division for public service. The newsroom was named finalist for the First Amendment award from the prestigious Poynter Prizes. Most recently, the Society of Professional Journalists named Stocktonia a national winner of its Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award, honoring the nonprofit newsroom’s “fearless reporting” in service to its community.
The team also includes new hires of journalists for roles across the state, plus a story producer focused on impact and audience interaction.
The new investigative team is made possible with a grant from Arnold Ventures.
The new team includes reporter Lillian Perlmutter, who has investigated immigration and border issues for NEWSWELL’s California newsrooms since last year.
Her special report in September, “Dying on Camera,” demonstrates the team’s approach. Perlmutter last year began investigating the death of a migrant woman outside San Diego. She learned that the spot where the woman died was in clear view of a federal border surveillance camera. Her investigation ultimately found that more than 130 people had died within range of those cameras in recent years, and that many of their remains were found in locations where the cameras had a clear view. The project, published in partnership with other reporting by MIT Technology Review, led to similar findings across the entire 2,000-mile border.
“An investigation like this one proves the concept,” said Josh Susong, NEWSWELL’s investigative director, who will lead the new team. “We can pursue a story with national scope. At the same time, the expertise of a locally based journalist makes the impact real.”