RIAS alumni network helps journalists in USA, Germany in the field
The alumni network of the RIAS Berlin Commission can be a treasure trove of journalists across Germany and the United States, as Oliver Sallet of Deutsche Welle and Ryan Delaney of St. Louis Public Radio have discovered recently. Both Sallet, who is based in Washington DC, and Delaney, who was recently on a fellowship in Germany, have found out there are well-connected RIAS fellows in towns and cities across both countries who are more than willing to help out when another RIAS alumni are visiting on assignments and appreciative of any support.
Sallet was heading to South Dakota to work on a story on the surge in Covid-19 cases in the sparsely populated state in the upper Midwest when he asked, almost on a lark, if there were any RIAS alumni in South Dakota. He was surprised to discover that among the 900 U.S. alumni there were not only RIAS alumni in the state but also candidates for future programs, such as Kevin King, the news director of Dakota News Now in Sioux Falls, who were more than eager to help point Sallet in the right directions.
King, who was scheduled to take part in a RIAS exchange program in 2020 before the pandemic cancelled all programs this year, was able to provide valuable contact names of Covid-19 victims and numbers of local authorities and a local hospital in Sioux Falls. That helped Sallet and his Deutsche Welle crew hit the ground running when they arrived in Sioux Falls. Sallet did this story that aired recently on Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/south-dakotas-hands-off-stance-gives-free-reign-to-virus/av-55894352
“The RIAS alumni network is really helpful with on the ground insights and contacts,” said Sallet, who took part in a RIAS program to the United States in 2016 and has been based in Washington DC since 2019. “Kevin was really helpful. He gave me the cell phone number of the widow in the story whose husband died in October from Covid. He also knew the spokesman of the hospital and helped open the door there for us as well.”
“I was happy to help Oliver so he could hit the ground running when he arrived in South Dakota,” said King, whose Dakota News Now station is also known as KSFY KDLT. “COVID-19 has created challenges for everyone. When we as journalists can help each other, it benefits us and our viewers and readers.”
Sallet’s reporting for Deutsche Welle from the United States has previously benefitted from his contacts to alumni in other states, including Ann Thompson of NPR station WUXU and Chris Knight of the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio. Please write to info@darkseagreen-dog-940501.hostingersite.com if you’re eager to connect with RIAS alumni in other parts of the United States or Germany.
Delaney, who was on a RIAS fellowship to Germany in 2019, was back in the fall of 2020 to work on a series of stories on how the German education system is dealing with Covid-19 that he filed for both his local station as well as nationally for NPR and The World. Here is the entire series: https://pulitzercenter.org/projects/how-germany-reopened-its-schools-during-pandemic
Delaney, who covers education issues for the NPR station, reached out to the RIAS alumni before coming to Germany for a month long reporting assignment. The alumni chapter in Cologne was able to help set him up with a fixer who helped set up interviews and other alumni helped him with interviews in Erfurt and Munich. He was also able to reconnect with a number of guest speakers during his RIAS fellowship in 2019 for information and tips on contacts. Leon Ginzel, a RIAS alumni in Erfurt who works for MDR radio, was able to help Delaney.
“I wouldn’t have been able to pull this trip off without being able to build off all the connections I made during my RIAS experience last year,” said Delaney. “Both those I met directly and the alumni network made suggestions and connected me with sources for my stories. I was able to hit the ground running, even though I arrived just as the pandemic was grinding life back to a halt.”
