InvestigateWest’s Kaylee Tornay is one of three reporters in the country to win a Journalists of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship from Investigative Reporters and Editors, a national nonprofit dedicated to improving in-depth reporting.
The fellowship provides a suite of IRE resources to support specific reporting projects. As a fellow, Tornay will embark on a deep dive into Oregon’s child care and early learning system, investigating disparities in the supply, quality and affordability of child care and early education options and their impacts on families. She will remain with InvestigateWest while pursuing this project.
“Kaylee is one of those special reporters in journalism, a person who approaches each new story as a chance to grow and perfect her craft,” Executive Director Jacob Fries said. “We’re grateful to IRE for this opportunity and fully support Kaylee’s reporting efforts to hold public officials accountable, identify potential solutions, and lift up the voices of underserved communities.”
IRE’s yearlong fellowship is designed to increase the range of backgrounds, experiences and interests within the field of investigative journalism, where diverse perspectives are critically important. The 2023 fellowship program was open to journalists of color with at least three years of post-college work experience.
Tornay is joined by two other fellows: Leslie Rangel, morning anchor at KTBC’s Good Day Austin, and Halima Gikandi, Africa Correspondent for The World radio program, the largest international news program on American public radio.
Support from IRE includes training at an IRE data journalism bootcamp and both annual conferences. Fellows will also receive IRE data services and a mentor network of IRE members to guide them through their yearlong project.
Tornay joined InvestigateWest in August 2022 and has investigated school staffing shortages, food insecurity and Oregon’s legacy of non-unanimous jury convictions. Before that, she was an award-winning education reporter at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Medford Mail Tribune.
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