Opening Doors Through Journalism: Your Impact This Year
Real Stories. Real Experiences. Real Impact.
The School of Journalism and Media continues to prepare students to tell stories that inform, inspire, and make a difference. Thanks to your generosity, students are gaining experiences that extend far beyond the classroom and into newsrooms, communities, and events around the world.
This year, donor support helped send a team of student journalists to the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina, where they served as credentialed reporters for the USA Today Network. Their award-winning coverage earned national recognition while giving students the opportunity to report on one of the world’s biggest sporting events. For many, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that transformed the way they see their future in journalism.
Your investment also continued to expand experiential learning opportunities for students. Whether traveling to Prague, the United Kingdom, New York City, or participating in the prestigious Carnegie-Knight News21 program, students gained firsthand experience reporting on complex issues, building professional networks, and learning directly from industry leaders.
Hands-on storytelling continued closer to home as well. Student filmmakers earned national recognition when Hunter, a documentary produced in the School of Journalism and Media, received the prestigious Broadcast Education Association’s Best of Festival award. Donor support helped students travel to document the story, produce the film, and accept the award on the national stage.
Juniors Gracyn Thatcher and Alexa Durben, both journalism and media majors, represent the University of Tennessee, Knoxville at the 2025 Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellowship at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Your generosity also makes it possible for students to attend journalism academies, professional conferences, and national competitions, where they sharpen their skills, build confidence, and showcase their work alongside the best student journalists in the country.
This is your impact.
It is reflected in every story published, every award earned, and every student who graduates with the experience, confidence, and curiosity to make an immediate impact in the profession.
As we look ahead, your continued partnership will help create even more opportunities for students to pursue ambitious reporting projects, engage with communities around the world, and gain the real-world experiences that prepare them to lead the future of journalism. Every opportunity you make possible today helps shape the storytellers our communities will rely on tomorrow.
Thank you for investing in our students and for believing in the power of journalism to inform communities, strengthen democracy, tell meaningful stories, and inspire the next generation. We are grateful to have you alongside us as we continue building an even stronger future for the School of Journalism and Media.
Amy Jo Coffey, PhD
Director, School of Journalism and Media