Grady’s Zachary Hansen Selected as a 2017 Pulliam Journalism Fellow

Zachary Hansen, a Grady College journalism major, has been selected to participate in the 2017 Pulliam Journalism Fellowship operated by Gannett Co. newspapers.

Hansen, who expects to graduate in December 2017, will work this summer as a paid reporter at The Arizona Republic and will participate in reporter training organized through the fellowship. Selection into the 10-week program is highly competitive with about 20 student journalists selected from an application pool of several hundred. Fellows are selected based on their experiences through internships and college media and a commitment to a career in the news media.

“I’m extremely excited to get to work and learn in an environment completely new to me, and I can’t wait to learn and experience all I can,” said Hansen. “I have to thank my coworkers at the Red & Black, professors at the Grady College and editors at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for helping me get to where I am today. I know I wouldn’t be able to call myself a Pulliam Fellow without all of their help and guidance.”

Hansen has been an active staff member at the Red & Black, serving as culture editor and later as managing editor.  He completed a features internship at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last summer.  And, as evidence of Hansen’s commitment to interdisciplinary training, he has held a year-long accounting internship with a local Athens firm.

Keith Herndon, a professor of practice at Grady College, led Hansen’s participation in a leadership development program offered by the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation Management and Leadership.

“Zach exemplifies Grady’s spirit by working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities here to grow as a journalist and writer,” said Herndon, who is the Cox Institute’s director. “As a former Pulliam Fellow myself, it is a treat to congratulate Zach for his acceptance into a program that has been instrumental in launching the careers of many journalists over the years. He’s in for a challenging, but enriching experience this summer.”

The Pulliam Journalism Fellowship began in 1974 and is named for its originator Eugene C. Pulliam, a journalist and publisher.