UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

08/20/2026

A very warm welcome to the Class of 2028!

07/20/2026

🎉 Zane Karram and Kelsey Oliver's thesis film "Strangers on Our Land" won best documentary at the Student BAFTA Awards!

The documentary investigates the killing of Raymond Mattia, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, by U.S. Border Patrol outside his home in May 2023.

This year’s BAFTA Student Awards had submissions from more than 600 universities globally in the film, games and immersive categories.

“Zane and Kelsey’s commitment to this documentary was inspiring to witness,” said filmmaker and Professor Jennifer Redfearn, director of the documentary program. “The subject matter was sensitive, as was navigating access to the body camera footage. But they directed and produced the film with such thoughtfulness and a strong eye for craft. I could not be more proud of them both, and of the nonfiction filmmaking legacy we’ve built at the school.”

We could not be prouder.

Read our June write-up here: https://lnkd.in/gGdSEkey

BAFTA

07/15/2026

Warm congratulations to the ten alums and three UC Berkeley Journalism-based California Local News Fellows honored in the LA Press Club's 68th Southern California Journalism Awards for the best reporting from or about Southern California across print, broadcast and digital media in 2025!

“Being a journalist has never been easy,” said Danny Bakewell, Jr., the president of the Los Angeles Press Club, “but today, amid divisive circumstances, the proliferation of fake news and unprecedented political pressure, the job is harder than ever. In spite of this, we have dedicated professionals who report the news with facts, truth and honesty. We celebrate those individuals who stand on the front lines to tell stories that impact the lives of people in Los Angeles and around the world.”

We could not be prouder at UC Berkeley.

Ten UC Berkeley Journalism alums have been honored in the Los Angeles Press Club’s 68th Southern California Journalism Awards for the best reporting in or about Southern California in 2025 in print, broadcast and digital media.

07/06/2026

We've got some good news for local news in California!

California is reinforcing its role as the national leader in rebuilding local journalism, approving a $15-million investment in reporting and editing fellowships and newsroom leadership training and sustainability initiatives in the state budget signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week.

This funding supports the UC Berkeley Journalism-based California Local News Fellowship — the nation’s largest publicly funded journalism initiative — and the Maynard Institute’s Propel Initiative, a groundbreaking leadership and newsroom sustainability effort led in collaboration with American Community Media, California Black Media and Latino Media Collaborative.

“California has long led the nation in creating opportunity for its millions of residents. This model of funding independent local journalism and newsroom sustainability is yet another way California is showing leadership, especially at a time when the dark clouds of authoritarianism and the scourge of disinformation are threatening to undermine freedom of the press,” said Michael D. Bolden, dean of UC Berkeley Journalism.

Read the announcement here!

UC Berkeley Journalism offers a two-year Master of Journalism (MJ) degree and a summer minor, preparing students for careers in journalism.

07/06/2026

An investigation developed at UC Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program in collaboration with the San Francisco Chronicle by alums Matthew Mitchell (’25) and Susie Neilson (’19) is shedding light on serious failures by San Francisco’s HomeRise, one of the largest non-profits serving formerly unhoused people in the city.

Mitchell, a recent J-School alum who continues to report this series for the San Francisco Chronicle and Neilson, an investigative reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle who recently won a Pulitzer Prize, give us some behind-the-reporting insights.

An investigation developed at UC Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program in collaboration with the San Francisco Chronicle by alums Matthew Mitchell (’25) and Susie Neilson (’19) is shedding light on serious failures by San Francisco’s HomeRise, one of the largest non-profits s...

06/17/2026

Zane Karram (’25) and Kelsey Oliver’s (’25) thesis documentary, “Strangers on Our Land,” has been selected for the longlist of the prestigious Student BAFTA Awards, the international student equivalent of the Student Academy Awards.

The documentary investigates the killing of Raymond Mattia, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, by U.S. Border Patrol outside his home in May 2023.

This year’s BAFTA Student Awards had submissions from more than 600 universities globally in the film, games and immersive categories. Three finalists in the documentary category will be announced on June 22.

We could not be prouder.

UC Berkeley Journalism offers a two-year Master of Journalism (MJ) degree and a summer minor, preparing students for careers in journalism.

06/15/2026

"Access to truth requires trusted news organizations. It requires journalists who understand the communities they serve. It requires institutions that can endure." — Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director of The Maynard Institute, on why California should continue its groundbreaking public investment in local news.

California lawmakers are finalizing a budget that would cut aid for local newsrooms, gutting a nascent effort to revive local journalism.

06/12/2026

UC Berkeley Journalism and Contra Costa Pulse are offering two Contra Costa County residents a chance to learn how to be a reporter this fall.

06/04/2026

The Asian American Journalists Association, which has honored excellence in journalism for nearly 40 years, celebrates the power of journalism that informs, investigates, uplifts communities, and tells the stories that matter most. This year’s winners include several UC Berkeley Journalism alums — including 2026 graduate Ava Hu — who will be honored during a gala at the AAJA’s annual convention June 24-28, 2026, in Minneapolis.

Hu won the Student Excellence in Written Reporting category for “Deported over a speeding ticket? Dozens of US students’ visas abruptly revoked,” for The Guardian.

Kori Suzuki (’23) won the Excellence in Written Reporting, Features category for “The murder, the museum and the monument,” for High Country News.

Yutao Chen (’19) won the Excellence in Online/Digital Journalism, Immersive Storytelling category for “Russia bombs Ukraine almost every night. This is what it sounds like”, for the Washington Post.

Cecilia Lei (’19) won the Excellence in Written Reporting, News category for “Bay Area Japanese Americans Draw on WWII Trauma to Resist Deportation Threats,” for KQED News.

https://journalism.berkeley.edu/aajas-2026-journalism-excellence-awards-honor-berkeley-alums/

05/22/2026

Please join us for a talk at Berkeley's Hillside Club on Monday, June 1: "The State of Journalism in 2026," featuring San Francisco Chronicle editor-in-chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, UC Berkeley Journalism Dean Michael Bolden and Trust Project CEO Sally Lehrman. RSVP at the eventbrite link below. The event is free and open to the public.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fireside-meeting-june-2026-registration-1988042195724?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true&fbclid=IwY2xjawRwk-9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFtNnQ4V0ZodkpWVHR3Y2lIc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpiIrWxcxMB17p_YuLJGQtX4uKSLEVdx3aEJ56ke6aoPj6Gm-GOyLs_niFq2_aem_Bjw8RKIpiqyklUZvDfg5EQ

A Discussion on the State of Journalism in 2026