The Next Generation Radio project is a full-scale, digital-first multimedia training project with an emphasis on audio. The program is a series of week-long training projects that offers students or early-career journalists the opportunity to work with mentors to report and produce an in-depth audio story.
This project was produced in January 2022 in partnership with the University of the South Pacific and the East-West Center and conducted virtually. Our reporters are students at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.
We would also like to thank our in-kind supporters Honolulu Civil Beat, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and KUAM in Guam.
Meet our staff for the University of the South Pacific project.
Founder
Doug Mitchell is the founder and director of Next Generation Radio. Doug is also president of the Board for the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University, a member of the Board of Trustees for the American Press Institute and a program consultant for the International Women’s Media Foundation. Doug is based in Washington, D.C.
Managing editor
Traci Tong is a freelance editor with public radio news teams across the country and with the BBC. She is also a founding producer with the international news program, The World, and the managing editor of Next Generation Radio. She is based in Boston, Mass.
Mentors
Michelle Betz is a senior press freedom and media development specialist and long-time Next Generation Radio mentor based in Ninole, Hawaii.
Claire Caulfield is audio reporter and producer of the Offshore podcast at the investigative news nonprofit Honolulu Civil Beat. She is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Thomas Mangloña is a digital producer and regional correspondent for KUAM News based on Guam, where he also covers the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. Thomas reports on politics and COVID-19 in the region. He is from the island of Rota.
Isabeth Mendoza is a bilingual freelance producer based in Los Angeles, Calif. She is currently freelancing for NPR and also working as a Code Switch fellow.
Lice Movono is a freelance multimedia journalist operating a content production company called Today Media Fiji out of Suva, Fiji, specializing in multimedia content creation, web design and public relations services. She is the Fiji correspondent for Australian and New Zealand public broadcasters.
Molly Solomon is a housing reporter and podcast host at KQED, where she focuses on covering homelessness, evictions and the affordability crisis. She is based in San Francisco, Calif.
Technical producers
Tom Krymkowski is a senior technical eLearning developer at Splunk based in San Francisco, Calif. He is also an independent film cinematographer and shoots projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Selena Seay-Reynolds is a freelance audio engineer and producer in Los Angeles, Calif. She currently freelances for Wondery and is launching the NextGenRadio Podcast.
Visual journalists
Erica Lee is a freelance photographer and visuals editor based in northern New Jersey. She worked as a staff photographer for The Roanoke Times in Virginia and previously interned at NPR on the photo editing and multimedia desk.
Kuʻu Kauanoe is a digital producer at Honolulu Civil Beat based in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Illustrators
Eejoon Choi is a freelance illustrator and animator based in Los Angeles, Calif.
Lauren Ibañez is a freelance illustrator and printmaker based in Houston, Texas.
Natalia Polanco is a graphic design student and freelance illustrator based in Orlando, Fla.
Ard Su is a freelance illustrator based in New York.
Emily Whang is a freelance illustrator based in Baltimore, Md.
Digital producers
Jenn de la Fuente is a web developer and designer who runs her own business, Rosebud Designs, based in Los Angeles, Calif. She is also an adjunct professor of public relations at the University of Southern California.
Diane S. W. Lee is the multimedia and engagement editor at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser based in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is also an independent business owner.