Program News

Prof. Zerwick publishes oped about the challenge from N.C. Judge Jefferson Griffin to her vote and thousands more

Posted on February 20, 2025

Journalism Prof. Phoebe Zerwick published a column last month in the Winston-Salem Journal and the Greensboro News & Record about the ongoing effort by N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin to challenge 65,000 ballots in his losing bid last fall for the state supreme court. “Candidate wants votes disallowed including mine” can be read here. A revised version of Zerwick’s column was published by the Italian magazine Ytali.

Exhibit: Connecting Our Past: The History and Culture of Boston-Thurmond

Posted on December 3, 2024

Come see Connecting Our Past: The History and Culture of Boston-Thurmond, a pop-up exhibition at MUSE Winston-Salem opening December 2, 2024! The exhibit tells stories from the historic Boston community (today often referred to as Boston-Thurmond). Established in 1892, Boston is one of the last intact historically Black neighborhoods in Winston-Salem. In the 1920s and ’30s, Boston was a thriving, self-sufficient, mixed-income community, but like many other historically Black neighborhoods, it was disrupted by numerous “public improvements” such as Cherry/MarshallRead More→

Journalism Minor Hope Zhu (’25) Published by Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Posted on October 28, 2024

Written as part of an internship with the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage this summer, Journalism minor Hope Zhu’s (’25) article, “A Menominee Father-Son Duo Find Their Voices in Music,” was recently published by Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Below are her thoughts and what she learned from the process of writing her first magazine-style story: I spent three months interning with Smithsonian Folklife until this summer, and I was eager to attend their annual festival. I’ve always hadRead More→

Alumni Highlights: Connor McNeely (’23)

Posted on October 21, 2024

Connor McNeely, a Journalism minor who graduated from WFU in 2023, recently won two NC Press awards for his work at the Greensboro News & Record. He won 3rd place for “News Enterprise Reporting” for his article, “The Greensboro Police Department is changing how they investigate suspected prostitution.” McNeely states, “The article informs the community that Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson decided to change his department’s policy to not allow any initiation of sex acts in future vice andRead More→

Prof. Barry Yeoman’s Latest: Has the Pork Industry Gone Green?

Posted on June 11, 2024

Posted on behalf of Prof. Barry Yeoman. Four years ago, the world’s largest pork processor settled a lawsuit with more than 500 North Carolinians. The plaintiffs, who live near industrial hog farms, said the stench and flies had made their lives unbearable. Today, the pork industry calls itself “a good steward of the environment” because it captures methane from hog waste and converts it to biogas. Has the industry gone green? Has life improved on North Carolina’s coastal plain? ToRead More→

Prof. Lisa Sorg Joins Inside Climate News

Posted on June 7, 2024

Lisa Sorg, adjunct professor in the Journalism Program, has joined national media outlet Inside Climate News as its North Carolina reporter. She will be covering energy, climate change, the environment and agriculture for ICN, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit newsroom. She previously served as an environmental investigative reporter for NC Newsline, based in Raleigh. Prof. Sorg will be teaching JOU 375: Special Topics: Environmental Journalism in the Fall 2024 semester.

Affiliated Journalism Faculty Member Joel Tauber Premieres First Feature Film

Posted on May 31, 2024

Joel Tauber, Associate Professor of Art and an affiliated faculty member for the Journalism Program, recently had a premiere screening for his first feature film, Sick-Amour: A Love Story (2024), at the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival at the Ffwrnes Theatre (Llanelli, Wales, United Kingdom) on May 20 at 3:30 pm, and online, geo-blocked to Wales from May 20-23. The movie has also been nominated by the festival for Best Feature Documentary. More information on the film can be found here.

Wake Forest Junior Melina Traiforos (’25) Wins Pulitzer Center Fellowship

Posted on May 9, 2024

The Pulitzer Center has selected Melina Traiforos, a third-year English major and journalism and marketing communications minor, as Wake Forest’s 2024 Reporting Fellow. Traiforos will receive a $3,000 stipend to report on Black maternal health disparities and inequalities low-income women face in the health care system. Her research project, titled “Black Mothers Are Dying. Here’s What NYC’s Doulas Are Doing About It,” will focus on the stories and outcomes behind an initiative taking place in New York City to addressRead More→

Journalism Student Work Published by NC Newsline

Posted on May 7, 2024

Students in Prof. Lisa Sorg’s spring 2024 Environmental Journalism course have had their work published by NC Newsline! Below are summaries of and links to their stories. Journalism minor and finalist for this year’s Bynum G. Shaw Prize in Student Journalism Hope Zhu’s (’24) produced a story titled “There are 21 food deserts in Winston-Salem, a legacy of racist redlining that persists today,” dives into the connection between the city’s racist redlining and food insecurity, as well as the workRead More→

Alumni Highlights: Kiley Price (’19)

Posted on May 1, 2024

Kiley Price (’19) was recently hired as a reporter at Inside Climate News, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit newsroom that provides essential reporting and analysis on climate change, energy and the environment. Along with covering longer stories, she writes the outlet’s newsletter “Today’s Climate,” which explores the most pressing environmental news each week. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Time Magazine, Live Science, Mongabay, Scientific American and more. In 2023, Kiley earned her master’s degree in science journalism from NewRead More→

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