WPM Reporter Selected for Harvard Journalism Fellowship

Tennessee Watson, an education reporter with Wyoming Public Media (WPM), has been selected as a Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard Fellow.

She will study how journalists can best cover the challenges young people face beyond moments of crisis -- such as school shootings and teen suicides -- in order to produce more nuanced reporting. For her fieldwork as an Abrams Nieman Fellow, she will explore the juvenile justice system in Wyoming, one of three states that opt out of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, home to internationally recognized journalism fellowships, programs and publications, has selected 27 Nieman Fellows for the class of 2020. The group includes local reporters, foreign correspondents, editors, a photographer, a bureau chief, television producers, newsroom executives and others who specialize in data investigations, digital development and innovative forms of reporting across all platforms. They will begin two semesters of study at Harvard University in fall 2019.

The Nieman Foundation has educated more than 1,600 accomplished journalists from 98 countries since 1938. In addition to taking classes during their time at Harvard, fellows participate in Nieman seminars, workshops and master classes and conduct research with Harvard scholars and others.

Watson also was one of three journalists chosen as the Abrams Nieman Fellows for Local Investigative Journalism. After two semesters at Harvard, they will receive support during fieldwork at home, where they each will work on a public service reporting project and participate in specialized journalism education.

WPM General Manager Christina Kuzmych lauded Watson’s accomplishments.

“She earned one of the nation’s highest journalism distinctions, and she will bring her experience and knowledge back to Wyoming,” Kuzmych says.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard educates leaders in journalism and elevates the standards of the profession through special programs that convene scholars and experts in all fields. In addition to its fellowship program, the foundation’s other initiatives include Nieman Reports, a website and quarterly print magazine that covers thought leadership in journalism; Nieman Lab, a website that reports on the future of news, innovation and best practices in the digital media age; and Nieman Storyboard, a website that showcases exceptional narrative journalism and explores the future of nonfiction storytelling.

WPM, a service of the University of Wyoming, is Wyoming's public radio/media statewide network, operating four FM channels and an online service. Its Wyoming Public Radio FM signal alone reaches approximately 95 percent of the state and is heard by over 70,000 Wyomingites. Online content is accessed by over 1.2 million unique visitors annually. It is the National Public Radio affiliate for Wyoming.