My Work is a Learning Tool for Everyone—No Matter Their Background
Meet the hell-raising Mother Jones fellows who keep us accurate and fresh.
Every six months, Mother Jones welcomes a new class of up-and-coming journalists to learn the craft of investigative reporting through a rigorous fact-checking program. It’s not easy for fellows to balance helping Mother Jones staffers fact check articles while developing their own news stories, but our new class is up to the challenge. Meet one of our digital fellows, Jaelynn Grisso:
“Journalists can provide an education to anyone regardless of economic status or privilege”
Name: Jaelynn Grisso
Hometown: Glendive, Montana, and Evanston, Wyoming
Education: I got my B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science from Ohio University.
How did you get into journalism? I’ve known for as long as I can remember that I wanted to be a writer. As I got older, I realized that I also wanted to spend my time bettering society and helping others. Journalism was a natural intersection.
Why is being a journalist important? Good journalists inform the public, but great journalists educate through context and analysis. Ideally, journalists can provide an education to anyone, regardless of economic status.
What got you reading Mother Jones? I met several Mother Jones reporters at the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference. I was really impressed by them, so I started following their work.
What’s one thing you’re excited about doing at Mother Jones? I love visual storytelling, so I’m excited to learn how to show in-depth investigations through video, photos, or data visualizations.
What are you excited to do now that you are in New York City? I’ve spent most of my time during past visits to New York in Manhattan, so I’m excited to see what adventures Brooklyn holds. I definitely want to check out more nightlife and the art scene.
What’s a podcast you recommend? I just finished a series called Offshore about a native Hawaiian who was killed by a white federal officer in Honolulu. I strongly recommend it—not just because of the relevance to the ongoing topic of police brutality, but also because there is a lack of accurate information about Hawaii on the “mainland.” (Disclaimer: I just finished an internship with the company that produced it. Regardless, it’s good.)
What’s one song you can’t get out of your head? “Emmylou” by First Aid Kit. It checks several boxes for me: that acoustic sound that I love, a female vocalist, and a touch of country, which always makes me nostalgic.
One TV show we must watch now? Broad City, absolutely. It’s hilarious, quirky and relevant.
An article that changed the way you thought/has inspired you? “Segregation Now” by Nikole Hannah-Jones at ProPublica. The writing and web development is fantastic, and it clearly explained how housing and education are inextricably linked. Housing and education are both issues that have been near and dear to me, so understanding how they connect was really powerful.
Each week, we’ll bring you a new profile of our fellows. Check our Medium page for more. ∎
