Rutledge is working with several Marquette graduate and undergraduate students while spending the academic year at the university as part of the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism. Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for “Cashing In on Kids,” related to Wisconsin’s subsidized day care program, she is one of three journalists using an O’Brien Fellowship to team with students at the Diederich College this year.
Graduate students Alyssa Voboril, Shiyao Li and Sarah Hauer and undergraduates Robyn St. John and Kelly Meyerhofer are all assisting Rutledge as researchers for “Gasping for Action.” St. John traveled with Rutledge for a reporting trip to Tyler, Texas, in December. She and the other students also variously helped with, among other things, producing photos, a video voiceover and an interactive timeline.
“Our students have gained invaluable experience by working with a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter to produce journalism that will affect Wisconsin and beyond,” said Lori Bergen, dean of the Diederich College of Communication. “Raquel’s series is another example of experiential learning. We are thrilled that it is part of the O’Brien Fellowship.”
Rutledge’s editors thanked Marquette for helping it to produce more public service journalism. “The O’Brien Fellowship and the work of Marquette students continues to make a great difference in our newsroom,” Journal Sentinel Managing Editor George Stanley said. “The fellowship allows journalists like Raquel the time needed to dig deep into critical issues. For students, it amounts to more than a front-row seat to great journalism. It is a chance to learn alongside the best.”
Learn more about the students’ contributions to O’Brien Fellow Raquel Rutledge’s work