Congratulations to Ervin Adjei, a UConn Journalism May graduate, on being named the 2026 Southern New England Association of Black Journalists' Emerging Journalist of the Year and recipient of the Presidents’ Scholarship.
After interning at NBC Connecticut, Earvin has begun his journalism career at WTNH in New Haven, where he is a digital assignment editor.

Marie K. Shanahan, the head of the UConn Journalism Department, spoke about the future of journalism on June 25 at The Westport Library at an event sponsored by the Connecticut Mirror.

Prof. Shanahan, who soon will be teaching a new course on news literacy that will be open to non-journalism majors, said the internet is a free-for-all, so each person has to be sure they are skeptical of the news people are sharing on social media.

"You are responsible for your information diet," she said. "You need to be a good critical thinker."

Professor Shanahan, who soon will be teaching a new course on news literacy that will be open to non-journalism majors, said the internet is a free-for-all, so each person has to be sure they are skeptical of the news people are sharing on social media.

"You are responsible for your information diet," she said. "You need to be a good critical thinker."

Professor Shanahan pointed out a recent study that found that states with a higher concentration of local journalists had a lower level of loneliness among its residents. She said new outlets could respond by writing more human interest feature stories in their communities to connect readers.

"We're all so isolated, looking at our phones..., so maybe that's a good selling point for local news," she said.

The conversation was moderated by John Dankosky, the CT Mirror's director of events, and it featured Richard Tofel, the founding general manager of ProPublica, who served as the news organization’s president from 2013 to 2021.

The CT Mirror and ProPublica recently won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for their series on predatory towing practices in Connecticut.

The complete discussion, moderated by John Dankosky and sponsored by the Connecticut Mirror, is available to watch on YouTube.

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected death of UConn Journalism Professor Emeritus Wayne Worcester on July 1. He had been a professor emeritus for the past 13 years and a professor of journalism at UConn from 1987 to 2013. He was 78.

Professor Worcester had an impressive professional career at the Providence Journal, where he was a staff writer, features writer, copy editor and co-editor of the Sunday Journal Magazine. He previously taught journalism part-time at Roger Williams College and the University of Rhode Island. He was an innovative and engaging professor, who lectured on newswriting and managed several hands-on labs in which beginning journalism students wrote stories on deadline. He also taught feature writing, magazine writing, copy editing and literary journalism.

A gifted writer, Professor Worcester was the author of two Sherlock Holmes novels, "The Monster of St. Marylebone" and "The Jewel of Covent Garden." He co-wrote "The Essential Researcher," a comprehensive research guide for journalists and nonfiction writers, with Maureen Croteau, his wife and the longtime head of the UConn Journalism Department.

In Providence, Worcester had reported on the Bonded Vault heist, a 1975 theft of more than $30 million in valuables from safe deposit boxes mostly belonging to the Patriarca crime family. He followed up on the crime for 35 years and detailed it with co-authors Randall Richard and Tim White in the entertaining 2016 nonfiction book, "The Last Good Heist: The Inside Story of The Biggest Single Payday in the Criminal History of the Northeast."

In an interview with UConn Today in 2011, he said that while the media landscape had changed dramatically during his career, the essentials of journalism that he taught remained the same. "What needs to be at the center of it all has not changed one iota, and that is, verifiable fact – content that is valid, content that can be relied upon for its accuracy and usefulness in understanding the truth," he said.

The visitation for Professor Worcester will take place on Wednesday, July 8 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Potter Funeral Home at 456 Jackson St. in Windham. A mass will be held on Thursday, July 9 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel at 46 North Eagleville Road on the UConn campus in Storrs followed by his burial in nearby Storrs Cemetery.

Obituary: https://www.potterfuneralhome.com/obituaries/wayne-worcester

Here is Professor Worcester’s “Last Lecture,” delivered in April 2013 at the Department of Journalism’s annual scholarship awards ceremony.

The UConn Society of Professional Journalists chapter, led by President Sara Bedigian, Vice President Daniel Stark, Social Media Chair Katie Servas and Treasurer Mikayla Bunnell, hosted nine networking events across different fields of journalism.

Fall 2025 was focused on hosting events about different modes of storytelling. The chapter held a Radio Night in collaboration with UConn’s student radio station, WHUS, and guest speaker Robyn Doyon-Aitken from CT Public. Sports Night in October brought in Adam Giardino and Dom Amore, two prominent Connecticut sport journalists who talked about their respective careers in print and broadcast sports journalism. Sarah Gordon, a multimedia journalist and photographer at The Day in New London, conducted a photojournalism workshop.

The SPJ executive board also attended Media Fest ‘25 journalism conference n Washington, D.C. to represent the UConn Journalism department on a national stage with Kate Farrish, an assistant professor-in-residence.

Spring 2026 was focused on a UConn Journalism alumni speakers series with the UConn Journalism Department, where students enjoyed learning how someone who graduated with the same degree got to where they are today. In February, the chapter welcome foreign correspondent Diego Cupolo from Turkey, a 2006 UConn journalism graduate. The same month, the chapter hosted its annual resume workshop with department head Marie K. Shanahan. The chapter collaborated with Connecticut Foundation for Open Government and the UConn Journalism and Political Science departments to host Katie Sanders, the editor-in-chief of PolitiFact in April. This conversation was centered around fact checking, AI and what to expect in the upcoming election year. Prof. Amanda J. Crawford moderated the discussion.

The alumni speaker series final event featured multimedia editor and graphics journalist Charlie Smart, who discussed his career and experiences traveling globally to report stories at the New York Times. At the department’s annual scholarship night, the chapter co-hosted Jackie Wattles, a space and science reporter at CNN who talked about her career in science journalism after she graduated from UConn Journalism in 2014.

The UConn Journalism Department finished the 2025-2026 academic year with three winners in the prestigious Hearst Journalism Awards contest, including a national Top Five, a national Top Ten winner and a national Top 20 winner.

Karla Perez won fifth place in the nation and a $1,000 award in the Personality/Profile Writing Competition. She was selected from among 130 entries from 82 universities. Karla won for her penetrating profile of Lenie Urbina, a recent UConn graduate who reflected on her experience as a survivor of the Sandy Hook shooting and hopes to become a lawyer to fight against gun violence. Karla began working on the story in Prof. Mike Stanton's Feature Writing class. Karla graduated on May 10 and in August, she will begin her master’s program at the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Read the story here: https://ctcommunitynews.org/2025/07/17/passing-a-milestone-a-sandy-hook-survivor-looks-back-and-ahead/

 

 

Jenna Outcalt, another May 10 graduate with a journalism degree, took 10th place in the Hearst podcast category for a story that she reported, wrote and produced in Prof. Harriet Jones’ podcast class in Fall 2025. The story explores food insecurity in Hartford and what the nonprofit Levo International, Inc. is doing to tackle the problem. Jenna also developed the story as a correspondent for Planet Forward. This summer, she’s working as an environmental reporter for Planet Forward and the Chautauqua Institution.

Listen to the story here: https://lnkd.in/e9gdd4TB
Hear Jenna talking about the story here: https://lnkd.in/eEeyZ8gF

 

 

Kitan Arole, a rising junior Journalism major, tied for 19th in the national Hearst Audio Contest for her podcast story, “Crowned and Proud: more than Hair.” The piece features Black female students at University of Connecticut sharing their experiences with the microaggressions surrounding natural hair and the barriers they face when trying to access proper hair care. Their stories highlight the cultural and personal significance of hair for Black women navigating predominantly white institutions. Kitan also received an honorable mention for the story in the NPR College Podcast Challenge.

Give the story a listen here: https://ctcommunitynews.substack.com/p/crowned-and-proud

Here's a fun and wide-ranging interview of UConn Journalism Department Head Marie Shanahan and another UConn Journalism graduate, Mike Enright, on the state of news and journalism today.

Marie describes the different ways the students are taught to report and cover the news and that they are encouraged to work for The Daily Campus, WHUS Radio, UCTV and UConn Nutmeg Publishing to gain more experience outside of class.

"At UConn, we train our student journalists to be accurate, ethical, and rigorous—to tell the truth. If they’re unsure, it doesn’t go in the story," she said. "And we emphasize practice. Students can get involved in so many ways before they graduate.

Give the episode of the UConn 360 podcast a listen here: https://uconn.edu/uconn360.../episode-165-whats-new-in-news/

 

Since August 2025, more than three dozen stories, photos and videos produced by UConn Journalism students from their classes have been published professionally by CT Community News.

The site on Substack is a news outlet led by UConn Journalism Lecturer Harriet Jones and sponsored by the CT Student Journalism Collaborative. Jones, UConn Journalism Department Head Marie K. Shanahan and professors Julie Serkosky and Kate Farrish co-founded the nonprofit in 2023 with journalism professors around the state to fill a niche. As student internships were declining statewide, the professors wanted to find an outlet to professionally publish their best students’ work.

Jones and other leaders of the collaborative then built partnerships with a number of news outlets, including CT Public, the Hartford Courant, the CT Mirror, WSHU and CTNewsJunkie, that are regularly republishing the student journalism from UConn, CT State-Manchester, Southern Connecticut State University, Central Connecticut State University, and other universities.

The students have been thrilled to see their work published, and they often say their extended families are excited to see their work as well.
One of them is Kwasi Osei-Amankwah, a recent UConn journalism graduate, who won a statewide Society of Professional Journalists award for his story on the job prospects and worries of the Class of 2025.

“It was a turning point in my writing career, allowing me to have a story published at a time when I had never imagined it possible,” he said. “I am eternally grateful for this incredible experience.”