CivicStory has launched the third phase of its NJ Sustainability Reporting project, a 3-in-1 news collaborative, fellowship program, and digital platform that incentivizes reporting on environmental sustainability actions in New Jersey.

In this phase, which will run through January 2022, we are tapping into youth urgency on sustainability issues affecting campuses and communities. For the first time, three student reporters (two fellows and one volunteer) have joined two professional reporters to report stories of New Jersey citizens pursuing environmental sustainability. The work of these students—from Stockton University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and New Jersey City University—will be co-published by their campus news publications and SRhub.org.

Additionally, faculty journalists from the students’ universities are contributing to the fellowship training sessions. Offering advice to the reporters on researching and framing their work are New Jersey City University’s Theta Pavis-Weil (Director of Student Media), and Stockton University’s Toby Rosenthal (Teaching Specialist, Communications Studies) and Erin O’Hanlon (Coordinator of Service Learning, Adjunct Faculty).

The NJ Sustainability Reporting project, launched in 2019, focuses on accelerating the pivot to ecological sustainability through multimedia reporting by journalism fellows working with diverse newsrooms around the state. Participating newsrooms publish text, audio, and/or video stories on their own platforms, and then share them on www.SRhub.org.

The project highlights newsworthy sustainability activity and initiatives taking place throughout New Jersey in municipalities, on campuses, and in homes and neighborhoods. It embodies the principle that daily news has a critical role to play in our transition to sustainability.

Phase 3 Participants

Photos left to right: M. Blessing Akeju, Joe Berenato, Kristin Guglietti, Alicia Tedesco, Amanda Wallace

Moyinoluwa Blessing Akeju (fellow): M. Blessing Akeju, a sophomore and biology major at New Jersey City University, is a contributing writer for the university's Gothic Times newspaper. She usually writes about environmental current issues and representation within the Black community. She also writes poetry and stories, is a cartoonist, and likes to read and study.

Joseph Berenato (fellow): Joe Berenato served as The Hammonton Gazette’s Entertainment Editor from 1997 to 2001, and returned as a staff writer and columnist in May of 2019. He is the author and editor of several anthologies and essays analyzing various aspects of pop culture. He is a graduate of Rowan University with a BA in English and an MA in writing. Except for a few years here and there, Joe is a lifelong Hammonton, NJ resident.

Kristin Guglietti (fellow): Kristin Guglietti is the copy editor, social media manager, and staff writer of The Hammonton Gazette. She is a 2020 graduate of Rowan University, and a resident of Mullica Hill, NJ.

Alicia Tedesco (volunteer): Alicia Tedesco is an aspiring journalist and exchange student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. She studies Media Design at the Furtwangen University in the Black Forest in Germany and is currently in her third year. Since 2019, she’s been writing for a local newspaper in her hometown about current events and organizations there, as well as features about people of the neighborhood. During the past year of her studies in Germany, she founded, wrote for, and designed a student magazine about the Digital Media faculty of her home university. At NJIT, she writes for the newspaper “The Vector” and is part of the Creative Writing Club.

Amanda Wallace (fellow): Amanda Wallace is a junior at Stockton University. She is a communication studies major with a focus on journalism and is minoring in marine science with a focus on marine biology. Amanda is a native of Rockaway, NJ.

Students, faculty enrich Phase 3 of NJ Sustainability Reporting Project