PODCAST · news
The Lead
by University of Georgia
How to get ahead in the news industry, told by the people who did. Hosted by Alexis Derickson and executive produced by Charlotte Varnum for the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management & Leadership at the University of Georgia.
Episodes
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Poynter’s Alex Mahadevan on the use of AI in the newsroom
As director of MediaWise at Poynter, Alex Mahadevan leads one of the world’s most influential digital media literacy projects, teaching journalists and audiences of all ages how to navigate a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. His work goes beyond educating – it also allows…
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Kelsey Russell on news literacy and the role of news content creators
Kelsey Russell, a Boston University grad now attending the Teachers College at Columbia University, is the host of the podcast 'Kronikled' and co-host of First Stop News. A self-proclaimed storyteller and advocate for print news, she has built a massive following on TikTok with the goal of...
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Leigh Spann on Reporting to Representing on Air Talent
Leigh Spann, a 2001 University of Georgia graduate built her career in broadcast meteorology across the southeast, from Macon, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina before spending over 10 years in Tampa, Florida as a morning meteorologist. Today, she’s taken her experience to being a talent…
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Inside Workplace Strategy Reporting with HR Brew’s Mikaela Cohen
Mikaela Cohen is a reporter at HR Brew covering workplace strategy and trends at a moment when the future of work is evolving faster than ever. A proud University of Georgia alumna, she previously reported on workplace and business issues for CNBC.com, CNBC Make It, and AARP.org, approaching...
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Jennifer Duck on rebuilding trust in news in an algorithm-driven world
Jennifer Duck has spent her career on both sides of the newsroom, first as a multimedia journalist covering the Bush and Obama campaigns, global politics and producer for Award-winning shows, and now as a journalism professor teaching students how to navigate truth in a digital, algorithm-driven...
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John Bednarowski on why relationships rule sports media
John Bednarski, the longtime sports editor of the Marietta Daily Journal and the Cherokee Tribune. With 19 years at the helm of a local sports desk and a past presidency of the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE), John brings a wealth of wisdom on how to survive—and thrive—in the changing...
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s David Carson on photojournalism and AI’s double-edged sword
David Carson has been a staff photojournalist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since 2000 and covered events from New York City during 9/11, presidential debates and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His photos are featured in the staff’s 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography and received a...
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Valerie Plesch on curiosity and change in photojournalism
Freelance photojournalist Valerie Plesch, based in Washington, D.C., has documented a range of topics, including politics, refugee resettlement and immigration, through her photos. Valerie also serves as vice president of Women Photojournalists of Washington, whose mission is to educate the…
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Leroy Chapman Jr. on AJC’s decision to cease print
As editor in chief of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Leroy Chapman Jr. sits at the top of the newsroom, overseeing every aspect of life in Georgia. Chapman began his political journalism career in his home state, South Carolina, before moving to Atlanta and working his way through several...
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CNN International’s Jenni Watts on leading and adapting in a changing media world
Jenni Watts, executive producer at CNN International, took an unconventional path into journalism. Beginning as a philosophy major at Auburn before moving into radio and eventually television. Her work spans environmental, cultural and technology features, with a career defined by adaptability…
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The AJC’s Samira Jafari on journalism standards and practices
Samira Jafari works at the intersection of timeliness and truth. As the head of standards and practices at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she guides journalists in “bringing light, not heat” to ensure ethical codes are followed and truth prevails. With more than 20 years of experience…
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The AJC’s Drew Kann on climate and environment reporting
Drew Kann’s reporting has taken him to the critically dwindling Colorado River, the citrus farms of the rural South, and the nuclear reactors currently under construction in Georgia. While each story may focus on one geographic area, the core of Kann’s reporting lies in the environmental...
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The New York Times’ Bill Ruthhart on early-career navigation
Bill Ruthhart interacts with the next generation of journalists on a daily basis. As a writing coach and editor for Career Programs at The New York Times, Ruthhart guides 30 newsroom fellows into their development as impactful reporters and writers. Growing up in a family of journalists, he...
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Dotdash Meredith’s Annie Campbell on food journalism's push to vertical
Annie Campbell knew she didn’t want to pursue a career in hard news. When she graduated from the University of Georgia, the question that remained was how she could fuse her passions into a sustainable career path. Answering this question landed Campbell at Dotdash Meredith, where she is…
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The AJC’s Olivia Wakim on food reporting
Olivia Wakim understands that every great meal tells a story. As a digital content producer on the food and dining team at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Wakim narrates the flavors and origins of the Atlanta culinary scene. Having graduated from the University of Georgia in 2023, she is…
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Country Living’s Anna Logan on home and design magazines
When Anna Logan graduated, she never expected her future career would involve posing a duck for a kitchen shoot or outsmarting the weather to capture the perfect snowy home cover. As the senior homes and style editor at Country Living magazine, Logan has found herself in unlikely settings — yet,...
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Mather Economics’ Matt Lindsay on the future of journalism revenue streams
Matt Lindsay seeks to provide a new wave of revenue solutions to media publishers via innovative economic strategy. The founder and president of Mather Economics, he serves over 700 brands worldwide, including Hearst, The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, while managing over 6 billion dollars in...
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Debora Wenger on AI and fighting misinformation
Debora Wenger knows the power of a fact check. As a Google News Initiative trainer, she collaborates with journalists to fight misinformation while supporting digital transformation. At the University of Mississippi, she researches AI impacts on the future of news while serving as associate dean...
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The Nashville Post’s Nicolle Praino on connecting with communities
Nicolle Praino began her career exploring stories beyond the surface to uncover the layers of her community. From Savannah’s WTOC to CNN’s The Row, Praino built a foundation in fact-driven, research-based narratives before entering her current roles — reporter at the Nashville Post and The News…
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The Jackson Advocate’s DeAnna Tisdale Johnson on the role of local news
DeAnna Tisdale Johnson earned her master’s degree in vocal performance. Now, she uses her voice in a different way — to amplify her community’s stories and be the voice of Black Mississippians. The editor in chief and publisher of The Jackson Advocate, a Black and family-owned newspaper, Johnson…
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UGA’s Carlo Finlay on sports media in the digital age
Carlo Finlay knew he wanted to work in sports from as early as he can remember. As the associate director for UGA’s Carmical Sports Media Institute, he leads students through hands-on experience in broadcast, digital content, media relations, reporting and more. In this episode, we talk about...
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Trusting News’ Joy Mayer on rebuilding audience trust in the media
Joy Mayer serves as a specialized source of guidance for journalists and news organizations striving to reclaim the public’s trust. As the visionary behind Trusting News, she dedicates herself and her consulting project to leading newsrooms in transforming their reporting approach. Channeling her...
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BONUS: Introducing Alexis Derickson as host
In this season 16 bonus episode, outgoing host Jacqueline GaNun passes the mic to Alexis Derickson. Alexis tells us how she plans to use her previous journalism experience and what she hopes to learn — and bring to listeners — as host of The Lead.
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Alex Crevar on finding a travel journalism niche
Alex Crevar moved to the Balkans in the 1990s and has been reporting from there ever since. His vivid and insightful travel stories are published in outlets including The New York Times, National Geographic and Lonely Planet, but his focus isn’t on filling a résumé — it’s about traveling…
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Scripps News’ Alexandra Travis on telling Black stories on screen
Alexandra Travis works to tell stories that have gone uncovered. As a documentary producer at Scripps News, she creates long-form, in-depth video journalism focusing especially on the experiences of Black people in the South. In this episode, Alexandra talks about what it feels like when she...
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WRAL’s Kelsey Coffey on knowing what drives you
Kelsey Coffey gets up at 2:30 a.m. every day to deliver the morning news as a broadcast reporter at WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 into uncertainty from the pandemic and protests for racial justice across the country. But today, she knows…
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UGA’s Dodie Cantrell-Bickley on the bright future of broadcast journalism
Dodie Cantrell-Bickley was taught the importance of a free press from her mother, who grew up in Nazi Germany and saw how crucial journalism was. Dodie pursued that passion for more than 30 years as a broadcast reporter and president of multiple news stations. She was a leader during the pivot to...
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The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Savannah Sicurella and Tyler Wilkins on starting out in business journalism
Savannah Sicurella and Tyler Wilkins are making careers in business journalism soon after graduating college and entering the job market. In this episode, they debrief about what drew them to reporting on commercial real estate and development, and how they managed to navigate the learning curve...
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The Current’s Margaret Coker on reviving an investigative news desert
Margaret Coker has covered stories from 32 countries on four continents, working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other outlets. In 2020, she returned home to Savannah, Georgia, to found The Current, a nonprofit news source dedicated to filling the vacuum of high-quality...
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Special: What the Hackathon, featuring Adam Levin
Misinformation. Deepfakes. Scams. None of these are going away, and we need tools to figure out what’s true. This special episode of The Lead brings you into the What the Hackathon at the University of Georgia, where students learned in real-time how to navigate our disordered information…
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UGA’s Moni Basu on the power of storytelling
In her 40 years as a reporter, Moni Basu has learned how to tell a good story. She’s covered presidential elections, natural disasters and the human stories of the war in Iraq. Today, she tells me how she discovered the power of a good narrative and how she earned the nickname “Evil Reporter…
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NPR’s Joe Shapiro on covering disability rights and finding voices for radio
In his more than 20 years at NPR, Joe Shapiro has written stories from health to rising court fees to solitary confinement. He’s spent most of his career writing stories about disability, starting when editors wouldn’t even publish his work because they didn’t think it was relevant. In this...
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NPR’s Elissa Nadworny on reporting internationally
Elissa Nadworny likes to cover higher education because she sees it as a gateway to stories about everything, from housing to transportation to parenting to politics. But that’s not her only interest — she’s been covering the war in Ukraine from the ground and has traveled to Jordan to report on...
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B. “Toastie” Oaster on telling Native stories
Toastie Oaster’s first ever feature made them a finalist in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. Now a staff writer on the Indigenous affairs desk at High Country News, Toastie focuses on stories that highlight social and environmental justice for Native nations and the consequences of colonialism…
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The Houston Chronicle’s Brady Stone on reaching readers
Stories don’t always make their way from reporters to readers on their own. Sometimes they need help — that’s where audience engagement journalists come in. On this week’s episode of The Lead, Brady Stone, an audience producer at the Houston Chronicle, breaks down why reaching readers quickly and...
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Ryan Prior on uncovering stories about health and disability
Ryan Prior has been interested in telling stories about health, science and disability since high school. Now, he does that as a journalist — and has added documentary filmmaker and published author to his résumé. He also found time to consult with the federal government about long COVID and…
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UGA’s Denetra Walker on creating change through social justice journalism
It’s Denetra Walker’s second semester teaching at the University of Georgia and she’s just getting started. After a multitude of experiences in the broadcast journalism field, she’s teaching social justice journalism and journalism ethics, all while providing mentorship and representation for...
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Grist’s Lylla Younes on environmental storytelling
Lylla Younes’ work has had an impact. Her work mapping cancer-causing industrial pollution in Louisiana for ProPublica helped lead to a plastic manufacturer’s permit to be suspended. She’s written about oil spills, hazardous waste and a tanker off the coast of Yemen that’s poised to cause an...
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Atlanta Magazine’s Kamille Whittaker on recording Black history
Kamille Whittaker’s career is intimately intertwined with the Black Press, starting with her time as an intern. Since then, she’s worn many different hats and is now a managing editor at Atlanta Magazine, where she puts together a product that truly tells the stories of the city. In this episode,...
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Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Erin Schilling on the joy of editing
It’s only been a couple of years since Erin Schilling graduated from the University of Georgia, but she’s already a digital editor at the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In this episode, we chat about the skills that got her there, what she likes about business reporting and one of her favorite…
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Paul Glader on getting out of the office
Paul Glader’s reporting has taken him all over, from California to Sweden and Germany. He spent 10 years at The Wall Street Journal, where he covered business, travel, technology and even metals and mining. In this episode, we’re chatting about his international experiences, his work as a…
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UGA’s Vicki Michaelis on sports journalism’s expansive impact
Vicki Michaelis is one of few people who have witnessed Michael Phelps win every one of his Olympic medals. After 12 years as USA Today’s lead Olympics reporter, she now teaches sports journalism classes at the University of Georgia. In this episode, we talk about her career path, what drew her…
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GPB’s Stephen Fowler on political reporting and the power of radio
What does it take to cover politics in a state as crucial and rapidly changing as Georgia? In this episode, Stephen Fowler, a political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, has some answers. In this episode, we talk about covering the midterms, the gravity of covering local political news and...
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NPR’s Pallavi Gogoi on making business stories that matter to people
Pallavi Gogoi has worked in financial journalism for most of her long and impressive career. She’s covered currencies and orange juice markets, and most recently worked as NPR’s chief business editor. Today, she joins The Lead to talk about the threads of storytelling that are woven in all types…
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Alyssa Pointer on people-focused photojournalism
Longform documentary storytelling is Alyssa Pointer’s specialty. She’s an independent photojournalist who wants her work, in her words, to make people give a damn about their neighbors. Alyssa has worked at multiple newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and now freelances while...
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ProPublica’s Rui Kaneya on supporting local investigative news
Rui Kaneya, a senior editor at ProPublica, joins The Lead to talk about why local news is important and what it takes to become an investigative journalist. Rui oversees projects for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, which supports long-term projects at local news sources. He’s worked at...
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Melissa Lyttle on believing in your work
Melissa Lyttle is an award-winning photojournalist who spent 15 years working at newspapers in Florida and now freelances with support from organizations like the Pulitzer Center and the International Women’s Media Foundation. She’s worked on stories in Mexico, Haiti, the Gaza Strip and more...
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BONUS: Introducing Jacqueline GaNun as host
In this season 12 bonus episode, Kyra Posey passes the microphone to the incoming host for next season, Jacqueline GaNun. Jacqueline tells us about her transition as host, the past experience she’s bringing to The Lead and why it’s important to have transparent and empathetic conversations about...
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Daniella Zalcman on reimagining documentary photography
Daniella Zalcman is an award-winning documentary photographer with work in National Geographic Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and in The New York Times — just to name a few places. She joins The Lead to discuss how photojournalists can reimagine documentary photography…
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Sean Keenan on why housing reporting is essential
Sean Keenan's work can be found in The New York Times, Atlanta Magazine, The Daily Beast and Vice — just to name a few places. Sean is a freelance reporter and he also covers housing for the Atlanta Civic Circle. He joins this episode to talk about why housing reporting is essential, the…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
How to get ahead in the news industry, told by the people who did. Hosted by Alexis Derickson and executive produced by Charlotte Varnum for the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management & Leadership at the University of Georgia.
HOSTED BY
University of Georgia
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Lead have?
The Lead currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Lead about?
How to get ahead in the news industry, told by the people who did. Hosted by Alexis Derickson and executive produced by Charlotte Varnum for the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management & Leadership at the University of Georgia.
How often does The Lead release new episodes?
The Lead has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Lead?
You can listen to The Lead on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Lead?
The Lead is created and hosted by University of Georgia.
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