FREEDOM OF THE PRESS PROJECT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
AUG. 4-8, 2018
I was interning for Church News during the summer of 2018 when I received a phone call from Carrie Moore, my BYU Daily Universe supervisor. "Hi Kaitlyn," she said. "What are you doing in August?"
When I told her I wasn't doing much before coming back to school, she said, "The School of Communications has received a grant to do a press freedom project in D.C. Do you want to come?"
Did Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence? Did Washington cross the Delaware? Did I want to go to D.C.? YES.
After several weeks of preparation, including arranging interviews, securing necessary video and photography equipment, and registering for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Conference, Carrie and I were on a plane to Washington. Upon arriving, we met up with Lauren Malner, another BYU journalism student who was invited on the trip. Due to being at different points in the journalism program, Lauren and I hadn't met prior to coming to Washington, but we quickly hit it off and became good friends while exploring press freedom issues together.
During our time in the nation's capital, we interviewed leaders of the Newseum, including Gene Policinski, a founding editor of USA TODAY; visited with a policy analyst at media advocacy organization Free Press; and spoke with a variety of journalists, attorneys and other professionals at the AEJMC Conference. We also learned from a number of highly informative presentations at the AEJMC Conference; visited the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and other monuments; and enjoyed some of the most delicious food I've ever had the pleasure of eating.
In short, this experience was phenomenal. Exploring issues I care deeply about in a city as important and incredible as Washington was a privilege I never dreamed I would have, and the opportunity to visit some of the country's most significant monuments gave me an even greater appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S. and the price others paid for them. I again find myself deeply grateful to the donors and BYU faculty members who made this trip possible, and I hope my work honors those who fought for our freedoms while helping carry on that fight in today's social and political arenas.
In the semester following our trip, Lauren produced her capstone project and I produced three in-depth stories with sidebars for my advanced reporting class coursework. We also created a variety of videos, photo galleries and graphics. Scroll through to learn more:
Lauren Malner - Dec. 11, 2018
It was early June—a mere 13 years after the United States had become a country—when Founding Father James Madison penned words which would continue to ripple through society centuries into the future: the Bill of Rights.
Kaitlyn Bancroft - Feb. 19, 2019
Winner of the 2019 Society of Professional Journalists Region 9 Mark of Excellence Award, In-Depth Reporting category
Third place in the 2020 Utah Society of Professional Journalists Headliners contest, Writing and Reporting — Division B: Series category
WASHINGTON — Sitting in a tall, black leather chair, Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, asked Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai a yes or no question: “Do you agree with President Trump that the media is the enemy of the American people?”
Kaitlyn Bancroft - Feb. 19, 2019
Incidents such as the White House pulling CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials in November have reignited a debate about the rights of journalists and the media.
Kaitlyn Bancroft - Feb. 26, 2019
WASHINGTON — The sky was clear, traffic was jammed and Mike Walter was driving to work on Sept. 11, 2001.
Kaitlyn Bancroft - Feb. 26, 2019
Facebook and Twitter have both taken measures against fake news.
Kaitlyn Bancroft - March 5, 2019
WASHINGTON — Myriam Ruiz was working for a small television station in southern Chile when employees of a large supermarket went on strike.
But Ruiz's station "couldn't say a word" about the strike because their station was sponsored by the supermarket.
Kaitlyn Bancroft - March 5, 2019
WASHINGTON — Incidents such as the Capital Gazette shooting in June 2018, which killed five people, and the October 2018 murder of journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi have raised numerous concerns about the rights and safety of journalists.
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