About Us
We are a group of 10 post-graduate fellows from USC's Annenberg School for
Communication and one fellow from Harvard's Kennnedy School of Government.
We are part of an innovative news initivate called News
21, which is funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the Knight Foundation.
If you have a personal story to tell, or an opinion about current trends and
policies, we want to hear from you. This website is a place where immigrants
can tell their stories -- to us and to one another. It is also a place where
long-term immigrants -- that is, U.S. citizens -- can have a dialogue with
more recent immigrants about these issues. For more information, e-mail info@immigrationoutpost.com
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Laura
Cavanaugh
recently
earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the USC Annenberg
School for Communication. She received her B.A. in Spanish and Business
from the University of Michigan. Cavanaugh came to California from the
Land of Enchantment, where she produced and edited at the NBC affiliate
in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a graduate student, she interned at ABC’s
Primetime Live, Dateline NBC and just concluded a successful stint at
ABC News in Los Angeles where she booked exclusives and helped produce
stories for Nightline, World News Tonight and Good Morning America. |
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Lisa
Daftari
grew
up outside New York City and graduated Rutgers University with degrees
in Middle Eastern studies, Spanish and vocal performance. Lisa is fluent
in Farsi, Spanish and Hebrew. She was invited to show her master's thesis
examining regime change in Iran to a subcommittee of Congress this summer.
She has interned at CNBC New York and Los Angeles and most recently was
hired as a researcher in the investigative unit at KNBC in Los Angeles. |
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Diana
Day
just
received a Master's in online journalism from the University of Southern
California. While at USC, Diana was managing editor of the readers' blog
at USC Annenberg’s Online Journalism Review. Before attending USC, Diana
was a schoolteacher, technology coordinator and reading specialist for
14 years in both Philadelphia and Pasadena. Diana earned a B.A. in English
and an M.S. in Secondary Education, both from St. Joseph’s University
in Philadelphia. She has launched two online news publications -- BeTwinned.com,
a magazine for parents of twins and multiples, and inSierraMadre.com,
a community journalism site for Sierra Madre, CA. |
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David
Eisenberg
is originally a resident of the San Francisco
Bay Area and has lived in Los Angeles for the past eight years. During
his tenure as an Angeleno he has lived through a number of professional
reincarnations, including serving a stint as an Emergency Medical Technician
on the streets of Inglewood, and helping to coordinate UCLA's Outdoor
Education program. Eisenberg earned a BA in Communication Studies from
UCLA in 2001 and an MA in Broadcast Journalism from USC in 2006. He has
worked for Associated Press Television in Both London and in Los Angeles.
His journalistic interests include environmental issues, regional politics,
and covering the quirky side of LA. |
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William
Etling
received his MA in print journalism from
USC Annenberg in May 2006, and his BA in film studies from UCSB in 2004.
His photography and writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the
Santa Barbara News-Press, in a variety of magazines and on phonebook covers.
Most importantly, however, he is the guitarist and (occasionally) the
banjo player and keyboardist for The
Deadly Syndrome. When he completes News 21 in July, he will move back
to the east edge of Hollywood and think thoughtful thoughts about trivial
things. |
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Brandi
Fowler
graduated
from the USC Annenberg School for Communication in May with a Masters
Degree in broadcast journalism. She has worked for various broadcast outlets
including MTV News, WSB-TV, WTVD-TV, VH1 and E!. Prior to working in television,
she was a radio personality for a local radio station in Atlanta, Georgia.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in public policy
in May 2004. |
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Millicent
Jefferson
recently
graduated from the USC Annenberg School for Communication with a Master’s
Degree in broadcast journalism. Her passions lie within radio and television,
and she has worked for ABC, American Public Media and others. Last summer
she left her native Los Angeles to report and produce news for a radio
station in Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to studying at USC, Millicent
was an elementary school teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
She earned her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California,
Berkeley. |
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Leo
Juarez
just
earned a master's degree in broadcast journalism from the USC Annenberg
School for Communication. A native New Orleanian, he received a B.A. in
Communications from Loyola University New Orleans in 2003. Prior to enrolling
at USC, he spent a year as a print reporter for The Orange County Register.
As a graduate student, he interned at CNN International in London and
the Los Angeles bureau of ABC News. In August, Juarez will begin working
for NBC News in New York. |
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Melanie
Roe
is completing
a Master's in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Prior to attending graduate school, Melanie worked on John Kerry's presidential
campaign as part of the advance staff in New Hampshire during the primary
race, and as part of Senator Kerry's traveling staff during the general
campaign. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2000 with a degree in
Political Science and French. She grew up in Mexico City. |
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Karl-Erik
Stromsta
received
a master's in print journalism from USC-Annenberg in May 2006. He has
written for Dow Jones Newswires, Los Angeles Alternative, the Daily Breeze,
Online Journalism Review and others. Before moving to LA he studied human
biology and taught English in France. He hopes to one day write for a
paper of record, covering the elusive "Business, Science, Politics
& Culture" beat. He lives in L.A.'s tony Korea town. |
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Shawna
Thomas
used
to lobby for the meat industry before she decided to go to graduate journalism
school. She just thought she would put that out there first so you can
get used to the idea of it. Before that she attended the George Washington
University and earned a degree in Political Communication. Whatever that
means. Now that she doesn't live in the political bubble of Washington,
DC she can see how, for lack of a better term, messed up the political
process in that city is. This makes her want to report on politics even
more then when she started down this journalistic path. Ask her about
the federal appropriations process. Go ahead. Ask her. She'll talk about
her appropriations pet peeves for hours. Armed with a Master's in journalism
and a perverse love for Tim Russert she plans to take DC and the 2008
campaign trail by storm. Until then she'll be living the poor life in
New York City working as a News Associate for NBC News. |
| Judy
Muller, Project Coordinator |
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Judy
Muller is an Emmy Award-winning television correspondent and National
Public Radio commentator, joined the faculty of the USC Annenberg School
for Communication in August 2003, sharing her vast experience as a radio
and television reporter with USC students. Muller, who went to work for
ABC News in 1990, covered the 1992 Rodney King trial and ensuing riots,
the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the O.J. Simpson criminal and civil
trials, among other stories. As part of a "Nightline" team,
she received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for coverage
of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and an Emmy Award for coverage of the Simpson
case. A regular contributor to NPR's "Morning Edition," she
also wrote a book about her experiences as a journalist titled "Now
This -- Radio, Television and the Real World." Muller is also a contributing
correspondent to "California Connected," a topical magazine
broadcast that airs on public television stations throughout California.
Before joining the ABC News team, Muller was a CBS News correspondent
who contributed to "CBS News Sunday Morning" and the "CBS
Weekend News." She did double duty on CBS News Radio, anchoring "First
Line Report" and "Correspondent's Notebook." Muller was
also a summer anchor for "The Osgood File." Muller developed
her individual reporting style during stints at The Colonial News and
WHWH-WPST, both in New Jersey, and KHOW-AM in Colorado. She joined CBS
News in 1981 and, during her nine years with the network, covered the
space shuttle program, the 1988 political conventions and George H. W.
Bush's presidential campaign. She is a graduate of Mary Washington College
and has received numerous journalism honors, including the New Jersey
Broadcasters Association Award (1979), the American Bar Association Award
(1980) and the Colorado Sigma Delta Chi Award (1981). |
| Patricia
Dean, Project Co-Director |
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Patricia
Dean joined Annenberg as Associate Director of the School of Journalism
in 2003. She assists the Director of the journalism school, including
first line responsibility for classes and faculty teaching issues. She
teaches television news classes. Her research interests focus on local
television news and reporting on public policy issues. Dean joined USC
from Northwestern University, where she taught for 16 years. She also
served as Chair of the Broadcast News sequence for six years. Dean taught
television news writing, reporting and producing, as well as a seminar
on ethical issues facing decision makers in television newsrooms. Dean
was honored for her teaching in 1999 with the prestigious Northwestern
Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award. She was nominated by
the dean of the journalism school, current students and alumni. Prior
to joining Northwestern in 1987, Dean was a professional broadcast journalist
for more than 18 years. She began her career in 1968 at WMAQ-TV (NBC)
in Chicago as a news writer. She later worked at WLS-TV (ABC) as the producer
of a consumer investigative unit and at WBBM-TV (CBS) as a producer and
as Program Director. A native of Chicago, Dean holds a Master's Degree
in Communication Studies from the School of Speech at Northwestern University
and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Iowa State University.Her work
has been honored with numerous awards, including two George Foster Peabody
Awards, two Chicago Television Academy Emmy Awards, the Gavel Award of
the American Bar Association, and the National Press Club Award for Best
Consumer Journalism. |
| Robert
Niles, Webmaster |
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Robert
Niles got sucked into Internet when computers and journalism collided
in the early 1990's. A long-time math and computer geek, Robert turned
to journalism after graduating from Northwestern University and deciding
he couldn't stomach becoming a management consultant. But the lure of
marathon coding sessions proved too strong. Robert soon quit his job writing
editorials for a red-state newspaper, and he began making websites instead.
Robert started with an online tutorial showing other journalists how to
use math and data, then branched out to niche sites on theme parks and
classical music. Robert's Theme Park Insider has been named the top theme
park site on the Internet by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines and
has been a finalist for the Webby Award for best overall Guide/Ratings/Reviews
site. In 2001, Theme Park Insider became the first travel-related website
to win the prestigious Online Journalism Award, presented by the Columbia
Graduate School of Journalism and the Online News Association, for its
pioneering citizen journalism initiative Accident Watch. Theme Park Insider
became the first Internet publication to win a major journalism award
for a report researched and written entirely by its readers. Together
with his wife, Laurie, a professional symphony violinist, Robert is developing
Violinist.com to be the premier online community for violinists and violin
fans. A native of Los Angeles, Robert now lives in Pasadena, Calif. with
his wife and two children. He edits the Online Journalism Review at the
University of Southern California, where he also teaches. |
