CMI Annual Report 2023-2024

CMI Projects
CMI Projects
Maine Journalist Marina Schauffler Wins
$20,000 Fellowship from Point Park
University’s Center for Media Innovation
Editor’s Note: The following copy first appeared on Point Park University’s website.
Marina Schauffler, Ph.D., an independent
journalist based in Maine, is the winner of
the 2022-23 Doris O’Donnell Innovations in
Investigative Journalism Fellowship from the
Center for Media Innovation at Point Park
University.
Schauffler proposed a “source-to-sink” analysis
of the pathways that “forever chemicals”
travel in Maine, where enduring synthetic
and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have
created a complex contamination crisis. PFAS
generated from consumer and industrial uses
accumulate and persist in plants and animals,
and cycle through water and waste systems —
posing serious health risks. This project offers
a comprehensive look at the far-reaching scope
and impact of these potential poisons.
“Maine has seen massive disruption among its
local journalism sources, and currently has just
two daily newspapers in the entire state,” said
Andrew Conte, Ph.D., director of the Center for
Media Innovation. “This is the type of substantive
investigative journalism that we are losing across
the country as resources and news outlets
continue to dwindle.”
Schauffler ran a series of articles in The Maine
Monitor, an independent, citizen-supported,
nonpartisan journalism outlet run by the Maine
Center for Public Interest Reporting.
“There’s a pressing need for Maine – and the
nation – to better understand the pathways
by which PFAS travels, given its widespread
use and disposal,” Schauffler said. “As an
independent journalist, I am especially grateful
for the Doris O’Donnell fellowship, as it will
give me the focused time to do the extended
and interdisciplinary investigation this topic
requires.”
Read Marina’s Full Story “Compound Injustice” Here:
Fellowship Spotlights News Deserts
This marks the third year of the fellowship, which was designed to spotlight and take on the growing problem of
underserved media markets known as news deserts. Since 2004, the U.S. has lost more than 2,100 newspapers,
according to the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Thousands of counties across the country lack
a daily newspaper, and many have no newspaper at all.
Schauffler had eight months to report and publish a final series of stories. In addition, she will come to Point Park
University’s Downtown Pittsburgh campus virtually to present her findings and work with students.
The fellowship is made possible through a three-year grant from the Allegheny Foundation.
Graphic provided by MollyMaps
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