PROFESSOR

Diane Winston

Knight Chair in Media and Religion

Diane Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. A national authority on religion and the media, her expertise includes religion, politics and the news media as well as religion and the entertainment media. A journalist and a scholar, Winston's current research interests are media coverage of Islam, religion and new media, and the place of religion in American identity.

TEAM MEMBERS

John Adams

Sports Journalism and Online Media

John Adams worked as a pastor for 12 years before leaving his church to pursue journalism. He earned a master’s in online media from USC Annenberg, and is focused on sports journalism and the web world. He is the co-founder of thesportsunion.com and currently works for NBC Los Angeles as a web editor and content producer. He has published articles on SI.com, WSJ.com, USAToday.com, MSNBC.com and TreeHugger.com to name a few.

Kim Daniels

Long-Form Documentary

Kim Daniels is a multimedia journalist focused on long-form storytelling. She worked as a story producer and on camera crew for Dirty Jobs, The Bachelor, Dancing With the Stars, Hell's Kitchen and other popular TV shows. As a graduate student, Kim was supervising producer of Impact, USC's news magazine show, and won first place at the 2010 College Television Awards. Kim received the Helen Johnson scholarship for broadcast journalism and is currently a Carnegie-Knight News21 fellow focusing on immigration in California.

Tara Graham

Online Journalism

Tara Graham is a Knight-Carnegie fellow at USC Annenberg and the recipient of the 2010 Penny Lernoux Award for International Reporting. She has worked as the co-editor-in-chief of Annenberg's award-winning digital news website, as a web editor for the London-based New Statesman magazine, and as a pop culture/humor blogger for Sugar Inc. Her viral citizen journalism has been featured on CBS, NBC and in online publications, including USA Today and MSNBC. She has also contributed to The Huffington Post, KCET and Pop+Politics.

Sarah Grooters

Specialized Journalism - Non Profit Management

Sarah Grooters has worked in the TV news business as both a writer and producer at stations all over California, including CBS, NBC and currently KTLA in Los Angeles. She went to Palm Beach Atlantic University for her undergraduate degree and is currently working on her master's degree at the University of Southern California. While she loves the news, she is passionate about volunteering. Grooters is a volunteer for the Los Angeles Animal Services, as well as for the homeless at Skid Row.

Len Ly

Broadcast Journalism

Len Ly earned a master's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California in May 2010. Her stories can be viewed on Neon Tommy, where she remains the longest-serving reporter. She focuses on the space beat.

Jason Ma

Specialized Journalism - Economics and Public Policy

Jason Ma received his master's degree in specialized journalism in May 2010, with a focus on economics and public policy. His work has appeared in Investor's Business Daily, Dow Jones Newswires, Inside Washington Publishers, and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Meghan McCarty

Broadcast Journalism

Meghan McCarty has a masters in journalism from the University of Southern California. She was a Dean's Scholar and Annenberg Graduate Fellow. She has been published in South African newspaper The Cape Argus, public radio's KPCC.org, Religion Dispatches and her broadcast work has been featured in USC student-run shows Impact, Annenberg Radio News and Annenberg TV News. She has worked in public media for KVIE TV in Sacramento, KQED FM in San Francisco and KCET TV in Los Angeles.

Kevin Patra

Online Journalism

Kevin Patra was a Knight-Carnegie News21 fellow at USC Annenberg. He earned a master's degree in online journalism from USC focusing in multimedia journalism. He is the co-founder of The Sports Union. He has worked as a senior editor of sports and news for Annenberg's award-winning digital news website, Neon Tommy. He has also worked as a producer/editor for NFL.com and a blogger for the Los Angeles Times Opinion page.

Thomas Pfingsten

Specialized Journalism - International Humanitarianism and Social Justice

Tom Pfingsten is a freelance journalist and photographer who graduated from USC's Specialized Journalism program in May 2010 and has written for The Huffington Post, and extensively as a reporter and columnist for the North County Times in San Diego. In 2009, he won the First Amendment Award from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists, and has reported from China, Israel/Palestine and the Philippines."

Evan Pondel

Specialized Journalism - Long-form Documentary

Evan Pondel is a masters candidate in specialized journalism. He has written for The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com, The Christian Science Monitor, NYTimes.com and Los Angeles Magazine. Most recently, his reporting has focused on immigration and religion. He made his directorial debut with the film, "Leather Jude," a documentary about a Holocaust survivor and master saddle maker. His work can be viewed at www.evanpondel.com.