CJ Fairfield is a 2016 Rowan grad and currently fulltime reporter for the Press of Atlantic City, where she covers everything under the sun. Local business, city government, human interest features, you name it. And in so doing she serves that critical function of communicating important stories to those most immediately impacted by them—namely, the people of Atlantic City and its surrounding towns. Most recently, CJ won a first place award in the 2020 New Jersey Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest for a three-part series she wrote about the late Brigantine mayor Andy Simpson, who met a tragic end this past summer when his kidney transplant was canceled in the early days of Covid. But it’s not all heavy! CJ is very funny and self-deprecating, so when I’m not trying to get her to take herself too seriously she also shares some great anecdotes about her dog, her cheeky use of social media, what it was like watching the implosion of Trump Plaza, and a fascinating story about a time she attended a real human autopsy for one of professor Dianne Garyantes’ classes. You should also check out some of CJ's work here: Simpson Series Part 1 Simpson Series Part 2 Simpson Series Part 3 A Beloved Rescue Horse Becomes a Celebrity The Fascinating History of Local Speakeasies Covid Changed Everything But the Beach Music — Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Born and raised in South Jersey, Christina Paciolla graduated from Rowan in 2005 and is currently news editor for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey at the Associated Press, where she started working in 2015 as a desk editor. Her career path is born of a genuine love and admiration for journalism, and she and I had a really wonderful conversation that covered many different topics. From talking about her work as an AP editor, to what it was like observing the Capital Riots of January 6, the frightening and saddening experience of being a journalist in the early days of the pandemic, our shared love of longform magazine writing, and a super cool recollection of she and her fellow Whit staffers holding a vigil at Rowan the day Hunter S. Thompson died. Christina is so thoughtful and passionate about her work, and it was a real privilege to share that with her during our time. Music — Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Matteo Iadonisi graduated in 2018 with degrees in both Journalism as well as Radio, TV, and Film. Since then he's worked as a Citizen Journalist for 6ABC, a job he got immediately after graduation. In that capacity, Matteo’s been producing short video profiles of people, places, and events all across the tri-state area that have a positive hook to them. And, for the most part, it’s a one-man operation—he shoots all the footage, conducts all of the interviews, and edits each piece down to its final manifestation, which airs on the nightly broadcast as well as the station’s digital platforms. At just 25 years old, Matteo recently completed his 500th piece! Matteo and I cover a lot of ground, from his early days as a ten-year-old YouTuber to his time at Rowan to the challenging emotional landscapes he sometimes has to navigate when telling these types of stories. Here are some highlights of his work: NJ man's free food pantry grows beyond his garage Musicians call for justice with brass concert at Philadelphia Museum of Art Man quits job to give haircuts to the homeless in Philadelphia Man in wheelchair takes in dog with no front legs Principal Sets up Barber Shop in School to Shape Student Relationships

Renee Ernst is a producer of social programming for CNN, where she works with a team of journalists on posting, monitoring, and strategizing the cable news channel's myriad social media feeds. It's a job that makes her uniquely positioned to talk about one of the most pressing topics of our time: How can journalism and social media intersect in a meaningful, ethical, and edifying way? Here, Renee and I talk at length about this issue along with a whole host of other journalistic quandaries. A 2008 graduate from Rowan's journalism program, Renee also discusses how she ended up moving from her home state of Hawaii to Glassboro, New Jersey (hint: it has something to do with crashing her mom's car into a coconut tree), why she quit a promising job at the Asbury Park press and temporarily ventured into the world of public relations...in TEXAS, and how former Gov. Chris Christie's Bridgegate scandal was the launching pad for her eventual role at CNN. If you want to learn more about Renee, her work, and her story, visit her website. Music — Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license 

Christian Hetrick is a staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and he's had an extremely successful (if somewhat serpentine) journey as a professional journalist after graduating from Rowan in 2014. Here we discuss everything from his time spent covering the New Jersey state house to reporting on Atlantic City, Comcast, and the future of Philadelphia businesses post pandemic. Check out some of his work below: —This scoop on the very real police investigation into the fictional character Gritty. It became a meme and was fodder for late night talk shows for a couple weeks —Today he's covering the economic impact of the pandemic and the future of work in Philly, a year-long project on the problems and possible solutions to growing good-paying jobs in Philly, which has trailed other cities in several economic indicators —Not long ago he was chasing down scammers as a consumer reporter and New Jersey lawmakers as a political reporter Music — Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license