About This Project
The ways in which Americans seek spiritual enlightenment are as diverse as America itself. Millions of Americans consider themselves "spiritual, but not religious." USC reports on the various paths explored by these "seekers," and how those paths intersect with science, commerce, education and culture.
Biographies of News21 Fellows
Chantal Allan
I hail north of the 49th parallel and graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada with a Bachelor of Journalism and Law in 2001. I then spent the following several years traveling and working for CBC Radio.
After "feeding the goat" through daily deadlines, I headed back to school and recently completed my Master of Arts in broadcast journalism at USC.
Before plunging headlong into daily news again at NPR's national show, Day to Day, the News21 fellowship gives me the opportunity to delve into one of the most underreported beats in journalism, that of religion and spirituality in America. It also lets me do something I truly enjoy -- listening to people and telling their stories!
Alison Brody
I recently graduated with a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California with an emphasis in radio. Prior to receiving a News21 fellowship, I taught for several years, produced a two hour public affairs program in South Africa and interned at both a public television and radio station in Los Angeles. My radio work has appeared on NPR's Day to Day as well as on USC's Annenberg Radio News.
Heather Downie
This May I graduated from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism with an M.A. in Print Journalism. Two years earlier I graduated with a B.A. in International Relations from USC.
Over the past few years I’ve worked for the Cape Times in South Africa, National Geographic Feature Films, KCRW Radio, the Pasadena Weekly and the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-Operation. In the future I hope to work as a foreign correspondent.
Allison Louie
A San Francisco native, I moved down to L.A. to attend the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating in 2004, I did what most English Lit majors do: celebrity event planning in West Hollywood.
I decided to change tracks after a year of throwing parties, and try my hand at journalism. In 2007, I received an M.A. in Print Journalism from the University of Southern California (Bruin blasphemy).
Last summer, I went home to intern at ANG Newspapers, a Northern California newspaper chain, and was fortunate to have the opportunity to write for the Oakland Tribune, San Mateo County Times and Tri-Valley Herald.
Jessica Roberts
I completed my bachelor's degree in English and Spanish at the University of Michigan in 2002. Over consecutive summers I lived in Spain and Ecuador, and wrote my honors thesis on the influence of media on the concept of beauty in Ecuador.
After graduation I moved to the Czech Republic, where I worked as a teacher and editor for one year. I then moved to Thailand and taught there for 16 months before returning to the United States to begin graduate studies at the Annenberg School at USC. While at Annenberg I worked for Jay Harris at the Center for the Study of Journalism and Democracy and as a project associate at the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships. I recently completed my master's degree in Print Journalism.
I have interned as a reporter at the Cape Times in South Africa and the Santa Monica Daily Press in California and have done freelance, stringer or research work for the Associated Press, the Santa Monica Daily Press and Forbes.
Shirley Shin
I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2002. In lieu of looking for a real job after graduation, I took a two year hiatus to go globetrotting in Europe, Asia and parts of South America.
I betrayed my Bruin roots and went over to the dark side, aka the University of Southern California, and recently graduated from the Master of Journalism program at the Annenberg School for Communication.
During the past few years, I have worked as a writer for KoreAm Journal and as an on-air reporter for TVB Pearl, the largest English-language television station in Hong Kong. After News21, I plan to pursue a career as a radio reporter.
Nick Street
The grandson of two Southern Baptist ministers, I grew up in a small city in north Alabama. I studied Christian ethics as an undergraduate at Oberlin College and in seminary at Emory University.
After a brief stint in the doctoral program in religious ethics at the University of Virginia, I moved to New York City and began a career as a religion editor in the world of academic publishing. Since 1998 I've lived in California, where I encountered a teacher in the living lineage of Zen Buddhism. Then, as they say, the penny dropped. I ordained as a Soto Zen priest on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day).
In the summer of 2006 I worked as an intern at The Standard, an English-language, business-oriented newspaper in Hong Kong. I also visited about half a dozen sites associated with key figures in the Ch'an (Chinese Zen) Buddhist lineage.
As a contributing writer at The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, I've written profiles of Jewish astronomers, a gay rabbi who ministers to a prison shul, same-sex couples who have converted to Judaism, and Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan's Island.
My main interests as a journalist are religion, astronomy, neuroscience and gay spirituality.
Amy Tenowich
I did my B.A. in anthropology at UCLA, and just wrapped up my master's degree in broadcast journalism at USC. I've interned at KNBC, written for the Pasadena Weekly, and have had several humor columns in the LA Daily News and on the Huffington Post.
I also won the 2006 Art Buchwald Scholarship for my hard-hitting story about Los Angeles newswomen and their abundance of cleavage, spilling over anchor desks across the Southland.
I hope to keep the thoughtful giggles going throughout my journalistic career.
Lindsay Watts
I’m a New Jersey native who’s fallen in love with the West since moving to Los Angeles three years ago. I received my master’s in broadcast journalism and hope to eventually work as a network news correspondent.
In my two years at USC, I’ve worked at our Peabody award-winning campus news station, this past semester as an anchor. I’ve interned at the Today Show in Burbank and at WTTG Fox 5 in D.C. when I was studying at the George Washington University. I completed my first triathlon in the fall and am training to run a marathon next year.
Rocio Zamora
I received my Bachelor's degree in English and Spanish from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004, completing my Spanish B.A. abroad at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). After graduation, I went back to Mexico where I worked as an English teacher and interned as a reporter at El Corregidor, a local paper in the city of Querétaro.
I recently completed a master's degree in journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication at USC, where I was able to participate in internships for City Projects, a documentary production company; Cape Argus Tonight, a daily newspaper in South Africa; and at Univisión, KMEX 34, the leading Spanish-language network in Los Angeles.
Biographies of News21 Editors
David Banks
I've worked as an editor, reporter and Web producer in the tote-bag sector of the economy (six years at NPR, currently at American Public Media) since the turn of the millenium. For the past three years, I've also worked as an adjunct professor at USC, teaching introduction to Web design and production.
I rode the Internet bubble economy as an independent Web consultant for clients such as Knight Ridder, TechTV and a fun but long-defunct Web project in Dublin, Ireland.
And before that, I worked as an editor/producer for Cox Interactive in Orange County and San Francisco. Educated? After a fashion... After earning a B.A. in English literature (with a minor in surfing) from UC Santa Cruz (go Slugs!), I began my career as a freelance journalist, with day jobs as a chef and office furniture salesman to actually pay the bills.
I earned my Master's degree in journalism at USC and spent the next eight years working for a variety of newspapers (including The Los Angeles Times and the Torrance Daily Breeze), magazines and wire services as an editor, writer and producer.
In 1993, I was part of an early multimedia venture for Reuters that proved to be a groundbreaking experiment in daily interactive journalism. I earned my chops in information architecture, HTML, high-end graphics and animation at a boutique media company named REZN8 in Hollywood.
While I'm not a religious person, I sometimes pray to the Spaghetti Monster for the following:
• a decent south swell
• lots of snow at Mammoth Mountain
• that my boat won't sink
• more sleep
Patricia Dean
Patricia Dean joined Annenberg as Associate Director of the School of Journalism in 2003. She assists the Director of the journalism school, including first line responsibility for classes and faculty teaching issues. She teaches television news classes. Her research interests focus on local television news and reporting on public policy issues.
Dean joined USC from Northwestern University, where she taught for 16 years. She also served as Chair of the Broadcast News sequence for six years. Dean taught television news writing, reporting and producing, as well as a seminar on ethical issues facing decision makers in television newsrooms.
Dean was honored for her teaching in 1999 with the prestigious Northwestern Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award. She was nominated by the dean of the journalism school, current students and alumni.
Prior to joining Northwestern in 1987, Dean was a professional broadcast journalist for more than 18 years. She began her career in 1968 at WMAQ-TV (NBC) in Chicago as a news writer. She later worked at WLS-TV (ABC) as the producer of a consumer investigative unit and at WBBM-TV (CBS) as a producer and as Program Director.
A native of Chicago, Dean holds a Master's Degree in Communication Studies from the School of Speech at Northwestern University and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Iowa State University.
Her work has been honored with numerous awards, including two George Foster Peabody Awards, two Chicago Television Academy Emmy Awards, the Gavel Award of the American Bar Association, and the National Press Club Award for Best Consumer Journalism.
Judy Muller, Coordinator
Judy Muller, an Emmy Award-winning television correspondent and National Public Radio commentator, joined the faculty of the USC Annenberg School for Communication in August 2003, sharing her vast experience as a radio and television reporter with USC students.
Muller, who went to work for ABC News in 1990, covered the 1992 Rodney King trial and ensuing riots, the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the O.J. Simpson criminal and civil trials, among other stories.
As part of a "Nightline" team, she received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and an Emmy Award for coverage of the Simpson case.
A regular contributor to NPR's "Morning Edition," she also wrote a book about her experiences as a journalist titled "Now This -- Radio, Television and the Real World." Muller is also a contributing correspondent to "California Connected," a topical magazine broadcast that airs on public television stations throughout California.
Before joining the ABC News team, Muller was a CBS News correspondent who contributed to "CBS News Sunday Morning" and the "CBS Weekend News."
She did double duty on CBS News Radio, anchoring "First Line Report" and "Correspondent's Notebook." Muller was also a summer anchor for "The Osgood File."
Muller developed her individual reporting style during stints at The Colonial News and WHWH-WPST, both in New Jersey, and KHOW-AM in Colorado. She joined CBS News in 1981 and, during her nine years with the network, covered the space shuttle program, the 1988 political conventions and George H. W. Bush's presidential campaign.
She is a graduate of Mary Washington College and has received numerous journalism honors, including the New Jersey Broadcasters Association Award (1979), the American Bar Association Award (1980) and the Colorado Sigma Delta Chi Award (1981).
Diane Winston
Diane Winston has worked as a reporter for several of the nation's leading newspapers, including the Baltimore Sun, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald and The News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina.
She is the author of "Red-Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army" (1999) and co-editor of "Faith in the Market: Religion and the Rise of Urban Commercial Culture" (2002).
She has directed religion and media projects at New York University and Northwestern University. She holds a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and B.A. from Brandeis University.
