Advance Local, Newhouse School Launch Investigative Reporting Fellowship Program

A new collaboration with Advance Local will provide Newhouse School journalism students opportunities to write and report on investigative projects with local impact for newsrooms across the country.

The David Newhouse Investigative Reporting Fellowship program, which launched this year in conjunction with Advance Local, will allow recipients to pursue individual reporting projects, partner with local reporters and take part in national investigative stories. Finn Lincoln, a senior majoring in magazine, news and digital journalism, has been named the inaugural fellow.

The program is named for the late David Newhouse, who led The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for coverage of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State University. As editor of The Patriot-News, Newhouse burnished the newspaper’s reputation for tough-minded investigative reporting, publishing work that landed some of Pennsylvania’s most powerful politicians in jail and freed several wrongly convicted people from prison after decades of incarceration.

Later in his career, Newhouse worked as editor at large for The Patriot-News’ parent company Advance Local, where he helped establish a culture of excellence in digital journalism as the newspaper industry grappled with profound changes brought on by the shift to online publishing.

“David was a fearless leader and an enthusiastic champion of the exciting opportunities that digital platforms provide local journalists,” says John Hassell, senior vice president and editorial director at Advance Local. “It is fitting his legacy should be celebrated with a fellowship that recognizes excellent young journalists and work that makes a difference in people’s lives.”

The program is the latest collaboration between Advance Local and the Newhouse School that provides student journalists with valuable experiences to work alongside professional reporters and editors. Most recently, Newhouse students contributed to Advance Local through coverage of the 2024 election campaign and other investigative reporting projects, along with social media strategy.

The new fellowship program reinforces the Newhouse School’s commitment to partnering with media platforms in support of comprehensive local news coverage, Dean Mark J. Lodato says.

“While exhaustive investigative projects take time to report, they can deliver a lasting positive impact on communities,” Lodato says. “We are proud to partner with Advance Local on this new initiative that supports local news while offering an outlet for our talented journalism students to hone the writing and reporting skills they learn in the classroom.”

The Newhouse School offers several classes that focus on, or include, investigative reporting projects, including an advanced data journalism course that trains students to tell stories with data.

“Until you’ve actually had the experience of requesting public documents, analyzing government data and interviewing the gatekeepers, you can’t really understand what our government is up to or how it works,” says Jodi Upton, Knight Chair in Data and Explanatory Journalism at the Newhouse School.

“Data and document reporting is critical for reporters on beats, enterprise, investigations— any kind of reporting,” Upton says.

As a junior, Lincoln took the advanced data journalism class with Upton. The students worked on an exhaustive data reporting project that looked at the impact of police vehicle accidents on communities across New York State.

Lincoln has already written or contributed to more than a half-dozen stories since February for AL.com, the Advance Local media platform in Alabama.

“We are excited to have Finn helping research some of the larger investigative projects this year, and it’s been good to see him involved in local news as well,” says Challen Stephens, director of investigations at Advance Local. Stephens, who will run the fellowship program, has led an AL.com newsroom team that has won four Pulitzer Prizes in the past decade.

“We expect to see his name on more great work soon,” Stephens says.