CCI Students Take on Community-Focused Reporting Through New Knox News Partnership

Originally published by: College of Communication & Information, The University of Tennessee Knoxville

Original author: Drue Hamlet

Professor of Practice Melanie Faizer, far right, is leading a cohort of three student journalists who will work with the Knoxville News Sentinel to do accountability reporting. The students are, from front left clockwise: Kayleigh Smith, Lauren Holladay, and Olivia Lee.

Beginning this semester, College of Communication and Information (CCI) students will have the unique opportunity to learn from an award-winning local media outlet, the Knoxville News Sentinel (Knox News). 

“Knox News is thrilled to collaborate with the University of Tennessee’s College of Communication and Information to give student journalists the opportunity to work on high-level reporting on critical issues,” said Joel Christopher, Knox News executive editor. “This partnership between CCI and Knox News gives these student journalists a unique combination of rigorous support from faculty and professional journalists and prepares them to enter the profession with invaluable experience.”

The inaugural cohort of accountability reporting interns is composed of three students majoring in journalism and media, Kayleigh Smith, Olivia Lee, and Lauren Holladay. Leading the cohort is School of Journalism and Media Professor of Practice Melanie Faizer, who will oversee the students as they develop stories about meaningful topics that impact local and regional communities. By telling stories that are otherwise untold, students will build a diverse portfolio featuring story development, data journalism, investigative reporting, and public records work. 

“I’m so excited to dig deeper into the field of accountability reporting under the umbrella of Knox News,” said Lee, who is in her first year. “Having the opportunity to cover issues that residents of Knoxville and East Tennessee care about is a privilege, and I expect to learn many valuable lessons through this program.”

Smith, a senior, views the internship as a chance to grow both professionally and personally. While she is determined to strengthen her reporting skills, she is also “eager to step out of [her] comfort zone” as she begins writing her first piece on the Knoxville Opioid Abatement Grants.

The program requires interns to attend news trainings, pitch sessions, and editor/mentor meetings, to ensure each student is prepared to pitch and report original news stories for publication by Knox News. This experience is yet another collaboration that The Media Center at CCI has established under the leadership of Professor Nick Geidner, the center’s director, that will immerse students in real-world experiences so they can develop skills, build professional relationships, and gain a deeper understanding of the industry before they graduate.

“Partnerships like this not only provide our students with amazing hands-on experience, but also add essential reporting to our community. I’m excited to see the work they produce under the mentorship of Knox News and CCI,” Geidner said.

The third member of the cohort, Holladay, expressed gratitude to the mentors who made the opportunity possible. 

“I am incredibly grateful to Nick Geidner and Melanie Faizer, as well as Knox News’ Joel Christopher, for this amazing chance to report on issues that are important to me in a way that is sure to further my professional growth as a journalist,” said the senior.