Daily Iowan Backstory

02/09/2026

Hello Alums and Friends:
A message from DI Editor Roxy Ekberg:

On Thursday, our team took home some hardware at the INAs. This is a statewide competition against professional newsrooms in Iowa. Due to our circulation size, The Daily Iowan is in the same category as the largest papers in the state, i.e. the Des Moines Register and Cedar Rapids Gazette. Here are the results from the INAs Awards Ceremony:

Best Feature Page — 3rd place
Coverage of government and politics — 2nd place
Coverage of business — 2nd place
Best headline writing — 2nd place
Best Use of Graphics — 1st place
Best Slideshow – 1st place Calabro, Jordan Barry, Cody Blissett ; 2nd place Tisdale, Cody Blissett
Best Use of Social Media — 2nd place
Best breaking news photo — 3rd place, Cody Blissett
Best sports feature photo — 3rd place, Cody Blissett
Best news photo — 1st place, Cody Blissett
Best photo story – 3rd place
And Arts Editor Dunn won 1st place for the Bill Monroe Special Digital Project

I was also honored to receive the Genevieve Mauck Stoufer Outstanding Young Iowa Journalists Award.

I'm always proud of this team, we've all grown so much this year, and it's an honor to lead you all!!

01/28/2026

ENGINEERING/JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY:

This just in for any of our recent alums who have engineering backgrounds:

News Release

January 26, 2025 Contact: Kevin Longley (202) 701-8768 | [email protected]

ASCE and Thornton Tomasetti Foundation Launch Inaugural Engineering Journalism Fellowship Reston, Va. — The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Thornton Tomasetti Foundation are proud to announce the launch of the inaugural ASCE & Thornton Tomasetti Foundation Engineering Journalism Fellowship program. This collaborative effort will establish two paid fellowships designed to support early-career journalists in producing ambitious, long-form stories that illuminate the critical role of engineering in society.

Engineering is at the foundation of public health, safety, and prosperity, yet its contributions are often underrepresented in public discourse. Through this fellowship, journalists are encouraged to explore how engineering addresses some of the most pressing challenges of our time — including climate change, resilience, and sustainability in the built environment.

Proposals should come from journalists following these criteria:

· Early-career professionals: Journalists with five or fewer years of professional experience.

· Focus: Long-form journalism piece highlighting engineering’s impact on climate change, resilience, and sustainability in the built environment.

· Compensation: $7,500 stipend.

How to Apply Applications are now open. Interested candidates should submit:

· A brief statement of interest

· Resume

· Project proposal outlining the intended topic, approach, and timeline

For more information and to submit your proposals, please contact Kevin Longley, ASCE Director of Media Relations & Public Affairs. The deadline for applications is March 13, 2026.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation’s infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), and .

ABOUT THE THORNTON TOMASETTI FOUNDATION

Established in 2008, the Thornton Tomasetti Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of design professionals and supporting initiatives that make a positive impact on communities worldwide. The Foundation funds scholarships, fellowships, and internships for students in building engineering, design, and technology, and provides grants to individuals and organizations for philanthropic projects that utilize engineering to address critical global challenges. For more information, visit www.thorntontomasettifoundation.org.

10/21/2025

Big News from The Daily Iowan:

The Daily Iowan won a Newspaper Pacemaker award this weekend from the Associated Collegiate Press. Congratulations to Executive Editor Jami Martin-Trainor and everyone who contributed to last year’s staff.

The Daily Iowan has now earned 10 Newspaper Pacemaker awards – often called the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism – including four in a row and five in the past six years.
Daily Iowan and DITV journalists placed in the top five in six categories:
– Reporter of the Year: Jami Martin-Trainor – first place
– Feature Story: Death doulas show end-of-life care through a different lens, Emily Nyberg – first place
– Informational Graphic: Who Owns Downtown Iowa City? – Marandah Mangra-Dutcher, second place
– Feature Photo: Bicycle Bridge – Jordan Barry, second place
– Broadcast News Story: The Reality of Underage Drinking Culture – Hannah Lipski, third place
– Broadcast Sports Story: Iowa City Welcomes Home Caitlin Clark – Collin Carrithers, Elise Gan, Cole Krueger, Ryan Paris, fifth place
We placed honorable mention (top 10) in five other categories:
– Multimedia Sports Story: Putting a Pin in History – Isabelle Tisdale
– Multimedia Sports Story: Hardwood meets the heartland in Iowa women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen – Jami Martin-Trainor, Marandah Mangra-Dutcher, Isabelle Tisdale
– Photo Slideshow: Gabe's 50th – Emma Calabro, Jordan Barry, Cody Blissett
– Sports Feature Photo: Soccer – Cody Blissett
– Environmental Portrait: Underground Wrestler – Jordan Barry
Finally, both The Daily Iowan and DITV received fourth place for Best of Show in the Newspaper and Broadcast News Program categories, respectively, for our best work this semester.

Please join us in congratulating our student journalists.

09/18/2025

Shout-out to DI alum Tom Daykin, who writes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and who last night was elected president of the Milwaukee Press Club. His wife, DI alum Karen Herzog Daykin notes it's the oldest continuously operating press club in North America, headquartered at the "historic/quirky/ultra-cool" Newsroom Pub. Congrats Tom!

10/31/2024

Hello Alums:
We have a talented writer on our News team (English major) hoping to start networking with professionals in the publishing field in order to explore options for next summer and after graduation.

Please send us a direct message or comment below if you are able to help! Appreciate you all - thanks!

10/29/2024

How many of you follow our DI podcasting team? Last year, now DI alum Natalie Dunlap took her podcasting talent to IPR after helping us grow that section of our newsroom. Here's our latest "Above the Fold", in which DI journalists Madeleine Willis and Evan Watson explore the economic ramifications of the downtown Dubuque Street reconstruction project on local business :

Dubuque Street businesses were celebrated last week with a block party two months after the $3.25 million construction concluded. The street was closed from March through August. Daily Iowan News Reporter Evan Watson attended the block party. Watson is a second-year student at the University of Iowa...

03/23/2024

We are so sorry to share this news. Tom Walsh was the editor of the Daily Iowan in 1971/72. Tom made so many positive contributions to the Daily Iowan; he reminded Jen Wagner several times that he liked to be best remembered for coming up with the DI slogan: "If it happens, it's news to us."

Thomas C. Walsh Rochester, MN Thomas Charles Walsh, 73, of Rochester, MN, a proud son of his Irish heritage, passed …

10/25/2023

CLEAN UP ON AISLE KINNICK! Read it here:

Bright and early on Sunday mornings during football season, Kinnick Stadium is filled with the rumble of garbage trucks, aluminum cans clinking against each other, and the scrape of hundreds of shovels hitting concrete. For decades, Iowa City junior and high school student-athletes and musicians, th...

10/28/2021

Dear Daily Iowan Alumni and Friends: We have tremendous news to share!
The Daily Iowan was named an Online Pacemaker winner by the Associated Collegiate Press. The Pacemaker is considered the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism. The DI was one of 14 winners nationally.

This is the DI's first Online Pacemaker and seventh overall. We won a Newspaper Pacemaker last year. It's the first time we've won consecutive Pacemakers in 20 years.

Further: Three of our DI students were recognized with national awards and three others finished in the top four for individual awards! Among them:

DI staff won FIRST PLACE in "COVID-19: Print News" for our special section that served as a one-year reflection on the pandemic.

Yassie Buchanan won FIRST PLACE in the "Column" category for her piece on Black history education, in which she interviewed fellow Waterloo, Iowa native Hannah Nicole Jones.

Robert Read won FIRST PLACE in "Sports Game Story" for his story on Luka Garza passing Roy Marble as Iowa men’s basketball all-time leading scorer.

Alexandra Skores placed third in "Diversity Story" for her feature detailing 50 years of the Latino and Native American Cultural Center.

Katie Goodale placed third in "Sports Game/Action Photo" for her photo of Luka Garza.

Julia Shanahan placed fourth in "Human-Interest Profile" for her story on an Iowa man who died because he was rationing insulin.

We had seven others recognized with honorable mentions for placing in the top 10 nationally. They are:

Rylee Wilson for her story on President Bruce Harreld retiring
Alexandra Skores for the College of Dentistry email story
Brooklyn Draisey, Katie Goodale and Jenna Galligan for their story on mothering during COVID-19
Kelsey Harrell for the 2020 voter guide
Chloe Peterson, Hannah Kinson, and Kelsey Harrell for a story on Caitlin Clark
Jacob Maish for a photo called “Storm Aftermath”
Tianna Torrejon for a broadcast story on Hawkeye wrestling winning the Big Ten championship

"I'm very proud of our staff and these accomplishments, particularly while enduring the pandemic and the circumstances from a mostly remote newsroom," said DI Publisher Jason Brummond. "It's quite an accomplishment to be recognized as a Pacemaker winner and have three winners in the premier national collegiate journalism competition!"

To learn more about how to support great campus journalism, please contact:

Jason Brummond | Publisher
The Daily Iowan
office: 319-335-5788
cell: 319-331-6855
[email protected]