Gracyn Thatcher knows very little Spanish.
This made the journalism and media major anxious about conducting an interview using an interpreter. But the editorial staff at the 2025 Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellowship had faith in her abilities to tell the story.
“At the end of the day, I’m still in shock that I was able to finish the piece. But it showed me that I can do more than I realize and that if you need help as a journalist, all you have to do is ask,” Thatcher said. “It also showed me that I don’t have to leave a story for someone else to do because I don’t think I’m the right fit; if I want to do it, I know that I can now.”
Thatcher and another journalism and media major, Alexa Durben, were selected to join student journalists from around the country for the prestigious 2025 Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellowship.
News21 is a national journalism project and seminar that brings together top journalism students for a 10-week investigative reporting summer fellowship. Students report and produce in-depth, multimedia projects on complex and timely topics for more than 100 news outlets across the country, including the Washington Post, NBC News, and USA TODAY. This year’s project focused on immigration.
“It was definitely challenging,” Durben said. “I’ve never dealt with anything like this on this level. It’s something that is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. It truly changed the way I view the world and journalism.”
Thatcher agreed that the reporting fellowship challenged her in ways she didn’t know were possible but feels she emerged as a stronger journalist because of it. It also inspired her to be a better leader at The Volunteer Channel (TVC), a student-run broadcast channel within The Media Center, which houses the College of Communication and Information’s (CCI) media outlets. Thatcher is currently TVC’s news director and plans to emulate the leadership styles of editors from the fellowship at the student-run station.
“In many ways, News 21 is an accelerator that takes already-accomplished student journalists like Alexa and Gracyn to the next level. It pushes them in new and challenging directions, equipping them with the tools and reporting skills to tackle some of the most complex issues of the day, and that’s what we need to be an informed public,” said Amy Jo Coffey, director of the School of Journalism and Media. “To have even one student selected for this program is an honor, but to have two tells another story of this program’s rise. We could not be prouder of Alexa and Gracyn for their accomplishments and for representing the school, CCI, and UT so well.”
Representing UT
This summer was the first time two University of Tennessee, Knoxville, students participated in the fellowship simultaneously.
Durben said this speaks to the opportunities CCI’s School of Journalism and Media offers students. In addition, she said UT students comprised half the visual journalists selected for the fellowship this year. This motivated them further to be great representatives of UT, the college, and school throughout the fellowship.
Both Thatcher and Durben said prior hands-on experiences in classrooms and beyond played a crucial role in their preparation and success during the intensive reporting fellowship. These include hands-on opportunities such as covering foreign issues as part of a study abroad program to Prague, Czech Republic, interning with local television stations, and participating in student media organizations on campus.
Thatcher said overwhelming support from CCI staff and faculty instilled within them the confidence to take on such a challenging fellowship.
The students also received financial support for the experience thanks to the John and Patty Williams Excellence Endowment. It covered Thatcher and Durben’s travel expenses this summer. They participated in the News21 fellowship as the John and Patty Williams Fellows.
“While I didn’t meet Mr. Williams until after I had been accepted into the program, it is important to recognize that he believed in us as much as our faculty and peers,” Thatcher said. “The consistent support I have received in this school has been never-ending and to see it from someone who I don’t know directly was an honor, to say the least.”