They arrived on June 3. They came from as far away as the Pacific Northwest and as close as the other side of Tampa Bay. There are 32 of them; 16 writers, eight photographers and eight designers.
They’re all journalists. Young ones. Most of them are fresh out of college.
For the next six weeks, they will undergo a program at the Poynter Institute that some past participants have likened to boot camp. In addition to taking classes, they will break into eight teams, fan out across St. Petersburg and start reporting. Beginning the week of June 10, they will start publishing their stories.
They will work on eight geographic beats. You can see them listed at left. Click here to learn more about the beats (and the teams of journalists that will be working them): Southeast, East of 34th, West of 34th, Gulfport, Northeast, Maggoire, The Point, The Beach.
(And remember, come mid-July, most of these talented young journalists will be looking for work.)
Jenessa Farnsworth
Brigham Young University
Marissa Harshman
Western Washington University
Columbia University
Jason FritzSan Francisco State
Isabel Ordóñez
University of Missouri
Tory Hargro
Alcorn State University
Matt Pleasant
University of South Florida
Joey Kirk
Texas Tech University
Shirley Knowles
Marquette University
Providence College
Billy Kulpa
Northern Illinois University
Zack Quaintance
Southern Illinois University
Cynthia Reynaud
University of Idaho
Lauren Kuntz
Ohio University
Ashley Mills
Pennsylvania State University
Arek Sarkissian
University of Arizona
Erik Oeverndiek
Notre Dame de Namur
Dwayne Steward
Ohio University
Julia Robinson
San Francisco State
Shoshana Walter
Mount Holyoke College
LeeAnn Watson
Augustana College
