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May 23, 2024 — Military Veterans in Journalism is pleased to welcome Marine Corps veteran and AP leader Ron Nixon to its Board of Directors. With his deep experience as a journalist, news leader, military veteran and uplifter of media diversity, Nixon takes on this new role ready to guide MVJ in service of its membership.

Ron Nixon is Vice President, News and Head of Investigations, Enterprise, Partnerships and Grants at the Associated Press. In his role, he helps guide the AP’s enterprise and investigations teams and creates more external opportunities to expand the AP’s reach and gain new sources of funding. Nixon joined the AP in 2019 after 14 years covering homeland security for the New York Times and served as the Global Investigations Editor before taking on his current role in late 2022.

“It’s an honor to be joining the Board of Directors of Military Veterans in Journalism,” said Nixon of the announcement. “I’ve supported MVJ’s work and been a member of its community for some time, and I’m looking forward to guiding the organization in support of veterans working in the news and seeking opportunities to do so.”

Nixon is a co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society, a professional association that works to increase the ranks, retention and profile of investigative reporters and editors of color. In 2021, he was selected as the News Leaders Association’s News Leader of the Year. Then, in 2022, Nixon was selected as one of Military Veterans in Journalism’s Top Ten Veterans in Journalism.

“MVJ is honored to welcome Ron to our Board of Directors,” said Zack Baddorf, MVJ’s Executive Director. “For the past three years, his advice on strategy and fundraising has helped me grow as a nonprofit leader, and I’m grateful for his guidance. His unparalleled dedication to amplifying underrepresented voices and driving tangible change aligns perfectly with our mission at MVJ, and we believe Ron’s wealth of experience and advice will be incredibly helpful in steering our organization’s future.”

Military Veterans in Journalism extends a warm welcome to Ron Nixon as he joins the MVJ Board of Directors. We look forward to working alongside him to serve military veterans and spouses in the news media.

This weekend, MVJ celebrates the spirit of hard work and determination that keeps journalism alive. We appreciate all the hard work our community of military veterans, service members and spouses puts in to keep America informed, and we are pleased to announce that Military Veterans in Journalism will provide a free year of membership to veterans and military spouses who join our community during Labor Day weekend.

“We’ve seen the outsized impact MVJ’s programs have had on our members’ careers and growth,” said MVJ President Russell Midori. “And we’ve also seen our members’ impact on the newsrooms we’ve partnered with. We want to ensure that all veterans and spouses who need these resources to jump-start their careers can take full advantage of them.”

It typically costs $30 for a professional journalist to join the organization, but any new members who sign up from September 1 through September 4 are eligible to take advantage of this opportunity. Once veterans or spouses become members, they receive access to robust resources to support their career growth. These include exclusive job opportunities and paid internships and fellowships in local and national newsrooms, hiring and networking events and webinars, access to fully funded basic and advanced journalism training and certification programs, and a widely praised mentorship program that pairs world-class, highly experienced journalists with members.

To get a free year through this promotion, please reach out to MVJ Membership Coordinator Marcy Bach at [email protected]. We look forward to welcoming more military veterans and family members into our community and celebrating all the hard work and service our community does to bolster America’s news media.

The spread of malicious information and extremist narratives within veteran and military communities presents a pressing challenge. Groups involved in spreading these narratives target military and veteran community members, hoping to use their voices to normalize extremist ideas and bolster their perceived credibility, patriotism and professionalism – and it is working. Experts in domestic terrorism and law enforcement analysts “estimate that veterans and active-duty members of the military may now make up at least 25 percent of militia rosters.”  

As these groups gain support within the community via targeted disinformation, the narratives they perpetuate undermine public trust in our nation’s institutions and pose significant risks to national security and the well-being of those who have served. 

I have spent much of my career deeply involved in countering disinformation and extremism. I’ve developed counter-narratives against ISIS and Al Shabaab propaganda in collaboration with the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) and contributed to NATO research on Russian disinformation in the Central African Republic, among a variety of other opportunities. I have also had the privilege of putting my knowledge to use as an adjunct professor at NYU teaching about disinformation. As the executive director of Military Veterans in Journalism, these experiences in tackling disinformation have provided me the expertise to lead our organization’s efforts in safeguarding the integrity of information within military and veteran communities.

Launched in January 2023, MVJ’s Counter-Disinformation Program aims to tackle this issue by providing investigative, nonpartisan reporting, countering false narratives, and actively engaging within our military and veteran community to prevent recruitment to these violent extremist groups. This program is a demonstration of Military Veterans in Journalism’s dedication to supporting the welfare of our military and veteran communities while building public trust in American institutions, including the news media, through veteran voices.

We have been honored to partner with a variety of well-known, expert organizations in support of our program goals. Program partner newsrooms include Military Times, Military.com, Task & Purpose and The Associated Press. We have also collaborated with The Poynter Institute, PolitiFact, Task Force Butler Institute, the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Project Over Zero and the Solutions Journalism Network on training initiatives to ensure our reporters are putting out the best journalism possible. Advisory collaborators include the University of Alabama’s Veterans and Media Lab, We the Veterans and Military Families, and START at the University of Maryland. Through these collaborations, we have equipped the program team with the knowledge and skills to effectively tackle the issues at hand.

With the program now underway, we want to take a moment to emphasize our organization’s objectives and values regarding how we are approaching this complex challenge. 

Our focus is on combating violent extremism and protecting our nation, irrespective of political affiliations. We are aware of the efforts by certain extremist groups to exploit the military veteran community and capitalize on its perceived credibility. This exploitation undermines the values we hold dear and poses a threat to our country. It also weakens the broader community when veterans are painted and characterized as extreme.

This is not a partisan issue for us at MVJ. For us, this is an issue of the potential extremist propaganda has to turn the freedom of belief veterans have sacrificed to protect into negative, harmful action. It’s about the actions these groups are driving veterans to take that harm our nation.

Countering disinformation is a complex and ongoing challenge. We are dedicated to refining our approach in collaboration with partners and experts in the field. Our program advisory board, established to guide our reporters in their coverage, consists of 11 such partners and experts. They will help us establish baselines for success, provide advice throughout implementation and guide coverage toward timely and pertinent issues within the malicious information space.

Our approach also involves engaging with the veteran and military communities. By employing veteran reporters and journalists, we aim to enhance trust and authenticity in our reporting. We recognize that trust is crucial in challenging disinformation and fostering meaningful dialogue, and that’s why we’ll be implementing a variety of tactics across social media and other online forums to directly engage with community members. We’ll be aggregating reporting in an online portal separate from newsroom sites.

While it is important to address the presence of extremism within some veteran groups, we want to emphasize that the vast majority of veterans and military members are not violent extremists. However, we know that those limited few who do turn to the extremes have an outsized influence, so we have an obligation to prevent their numbers from rising. We will continue to work with our partners to safeguard our nation, protect our community, and empower veterans and military members against the influence of violent extremist groups.

We welcome your questions, thoughts and suggestions on this effort. Feel free to email me at [email protected]. For more information and updates on our counter-disinformation program, please watch our website for updates as we navigate this complex challenge.

MVJ President Russell Midori addresses event attendees. Photo courtesy of Ryan Ruggiero of NBC.

About 50 military veterans and media personnel attended From Frontlines to Headlines, an event co-hosted by NBC and Military Veterans in Journalism at NBC headquarters in Manhattan to allow veterans in journalism to network with top media professionals from NBC and to highlight the importance of getting more vets in journalism.

Cesar Conde, chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group, welcomed attendees to 30 Rock, after which MVJ President Russell Midori encouraged the attending veterans to take full advantage of the chance to build their networks.

The NBCUniversal team held the event with MVJ to diversify their newsroom so that their staff more accurately reflects their audience across platforms. Only two percent of journalists are military veterans, yet eight percent of Americans have served in the armed forces.

Addressing the group, Lucy Bustamante, an Emmy-winning morning anchor and journalist for NBC10, breaking news anchor for Telemundo62 and Navy spouse, expressed the value NBCUniversal places on the service of military veterans and the company’s appreciation for the diversity of experiences veterans bring to the workforce. Bustamante then moderated a four-person panel of military veteran NBC employees who spoke about their experiences.

Event attendees listened to each of the panelists speak at the “From Frontlines to Headlines” event. Photo courtesy of Ryan Ruggiero of NBC.

The first of these speakers was NBC News and MSNBC Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. John Torres, who discussed his experience in the Air Force and how it has helped his civilian career. Torres grew up as an Air Force brat before attending the Air Force Academy, where he became a commissioned officer upon graduation. After serving several years as a pilot, Torres answered his calling to become a physician and has since traveled worldwide to provide medical care and humanitarian aid. Torres now combines his medical knowledge and skills from service to bring depth and trust to NBC’s medical coverage. On the side, he also instructs NATO Special Forces in combat and medical skills.

The second panelist to speak was Patrick Martin, a multimedia journalist and producer with the NBC News medical unit. An Afghanistan veteran who served with the 82nd Airborne, Martin’s mission after service became telling stories and the truth for those who were not being heard, such as victims of military sexual trauma. He said his time in service has helped him cover a variety of veteran- and civilian-related health topics in his career.

Emmy-winning political reporter and host of NBC7’s “Politically Speaking” Priya Sridhar also spoke at the event. Sridhar grew up as a first-generation American and joined the Navy Reserves in her 30s, where she currently serves as an officer with the 7th Fleet. After she joined the Reserves, Sridhar became a board member of Military Veterans in Journalism, where she helps connect veterans with opportunities to grow, network and work in the news media. Sridhar talked about one of her recent projects that followed Marines at Camp Lejeune on a remembrance hike for the comrades they had lost in Afghanistan. She also said journalism and military service go hand-in-hand to make her better at serving her country and her community.

Attendees had plenty of chances to network and connect at the event. Photo courtesy of Ryan Ruggiero of NBC.

Also on the panel was Heather Blasko, a transmission and broadcast engineer for CNBC and NBC Sports, who served in communications in the Army during the Cold War. Upon completion of her military service, NBC hired Blasko for transmissions work. She has since worked behind the scenes on coverage for several Olympics with NBC Sports, including the 2022 games in Beijing. She said she has deep satisfaction with her work and the environment at NBC over the years.

An attendee asked Martin, “What is the trick to getting hired by NBC? I’ve been applying for twenty years.”

“There is no trick,” Martin answered. “It’s very competitive. You just have to keep applying.”

While the event did not guarantee direct placement in an NBC newsroom, the opportunity to network and learn from successful military veteran journalists provided great insight for the attendees, according to multiple participants.

Addison Jureidini, the author of this article, is an Army veteran and aspiring photojournalist. Follow his work on Medium or LinkedIn!

Military Veterans in Journalism announced today the addition of two new members to its Counter-Disinformation Program team. 

Allison Erickson and Nikki Wentling have joined the program as part of MVJ’s partnership with Military Times. Erickson, an Army veteran, serves as the program’s investigative reporter, while Wentling serves as a disinformation and extremism reporter. Both work directly for Military Times.

MVJ’s nonpartisan Counter-Disinformation Program combats the spread of disinformation within military and veteran communities. Military Times will maintain editorial independence while receiving financial support from this program for the hiring of the two reporters. The program is funded by the Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and Craig Newmark Philanthropies.  

“We are thrilled to have Allison and Nikki join us for this project,” said Zack Baddorf, MVJ’s executive director. “Their extensive experience and expertise in reporting on issues that impact the military community will help us achieve our mission to combat disinformation and provide accurate information to the public.”

Erickson, a former Medical Service Corps officer in the U.S. Army, brings a unique perspective to her role as the project’s investigative reporter. She completed a combat deployment to Afghanistan and earned several medals, including the Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal. Her journalism career began before her military service when she studied editorial journalism at Texas Christian University. Erickson has since worked on various freelance assignments in print and digital news and produced podcasts reporting on migration, politics, and health. She previously served as MVJ’s Texas Tribune Military Affairs Reporting Fellow for 2022.

Wentling, a former reporter for Stars and Stripes, has covered issues affecting veterans, service members, and their families at the national and local levels. She reported from Congress, the White House, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as throughout the country. Wentling is also an alumna of the Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship and has been recognized for her reporting on homeless veterans during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are excited to welcome Allison and Nikki to our reporting team,’’ said Mike Gruss, Military Times’ editor in chief. “Their reporting on the important challenges of disinformation and extremism in the military and veteran communities will be invaluable to our readers. We are grateful to partner with MVJ on this important project.”

You purchased your ticket and booked your hotel for the MVJ 2023 convention happening October 5-7th. Networking will be essential at this event and others. Arriving with a strategy will allow you to make the most out of the experience. Networking well earns you more credibility with a broader range of people. Connections make all the difference in the jobs and collaboration you achieve.

Think of your network as a vine and each connection as a leaf. A vining plant is healthiest when its vines continue to move upward and grow new leaves.

You probably didn’t get to choose your coworkers when serving in the military and advancement is selective, so the importance of networking isn’t experienced. For this reason it’s easy to make the mistake of transitioning to a new career without your sights on creating connections.

Outside the military, networking is a vital step toward building your career. Once you have established your network, you can build relationships through the people within it.

First, think inside the box. Who do the people close to you know? How can you benefit their career or vice-versa? What stories can they tell that may fit in your journalistic writing?

Social media is an excellent place to start. You can find groups of people that align with your career goals and interests on various platforms. Some of these will even have in-person meetups.

Networking with companies is the same as networking with people. You can find the companies you are interested in on LinkedIn, join their following, and look at the employees to see what you have in common – like attending the same school, for instance.

Websites like LinkedIn and Alignable have emerged that focus on working professionals. Reaching out to people is a great way to step up your connections. It never hurts to try to make a professional connection online, and it is a pleasant surprise to hear back from people you are writing about or admire.

Opposite to online networking is in-person networking. It’s good to maintain a comfortable balance between the two. Keep your eye out for events where you can meet people, and bring business cards or have a QR code to lead people to your LinkedIn. 

Making professional connections is often about being in the right place at the right time. Salespeople understand this and use what they call “placement tactics.” For journalists, this means going to locations where the people they want to interview are. 

Being a veteran provides a unique advantage to networking. You can (and often will) stay in contact with former peers, superiors and subordinates. You will create new connections when you attend their birthdays, weddings or other events, and you can also make new connections through families and organizations like Military Veterans in Journalism. Veterans are known to be reliable, and keeping up bonds throughout various industries is vital to career success.

The importance of networking for veterans does not stop at individual gain. Veterans work in various positions and occupations to provide advocacy and support for each other in media, journalism and beyond. There are veteran organizations built around a variety of goals and concepts for veterans to connect. 

Team RWB, for instance, is an organization for veterans to socialize and participate in physical activity. Team Rubicon is another that provides service after service through humanitarian aid. Joining a group or organization opens your avenues of communication, expanding your web of knowledge and people.

When you meet a fellow veteran, connect online – and check mutual connections. As we say in the Marines, “It’s a small Marine Corps.” The broader military community is small, though. The last few times I met another Marine, we had at least one mutual connection. A Marine I met in a veteran group was roommates in Okinawa with my first staff sergeant in the fleet.

Strike up a conversation with people when you attend events. If you recognize someone, make the time to talk to them. Even if you are unsure how you know them, say hello anyway. Talk to those you do not know too. 

Networking should not be intimidating, but don’t expect to perfect your skill overnight. It will take time to grow your network and practice socializing with people, especially those outside the military. Relating to civilians and using civilian career communication skills will get easier over time. Once you have a network, you must maintain it by remaining involved, even with those you worked with in the military.

Networking with a unique veteran perspective will bring reliability and success in your media and journalism career. Introduce your connections to each other if you see a commonality. Stay in touch with the people you interview or photograph, and always strive to meet new people.

Eleanor Nesim, the author of this piece, is an accomplished writer with bylines in Atlantis, Verte Magazine, Writer’s Hive, The Humanitarian Rights Arts Festival, on Oxean14, and in the Book: Beyond Belief Marines Colorado. Eleanor also obtained years of utilizing communication skills both technologically and verbally while in a supervisor Military position.

Report for America (RFA) and Military Veterans in Journalism (MVJ) collaborated to host an online training session for reporters, producers, and photographers on disability reporting at the end of February. The session aimed to improve the accuracy, quality, and sensitivity of disability-related news reporting, including coverage of disabled veterans issues.

Three experienced trainers from the MVJ Speakers Bureau led the session: Ben Brody, Director of Photography at RFA; Caron LeNoir, founder of CaronisMedia; and JP Lawrence, Stars and Stripes’ reporter on Afghanistan and the Middle East. These trainers provided education and expertise to the 15-20 participants who attended the event, helping to improve their disability reporting skills.

“We are proud to have collaborated with Report for America to provide this valuable training session on disability reporting,” said Zack Baddorf, MVJ Executive Director. “As veterans ourselves, we understand the importance of deep, nuanced coverage of disability-related issues, particularly those affecting disabled veterans.”

The trainers emphasized the importance of accurate, high-quality, and sensitive reporting on disabled veterans and encouraged participants to engage directly with the disabled veteran community. They also shared best practices for reporting on disability-related topics and accessing and engaging with communities of disabled veterans. The session covered many topics, including impactful storytelling, accurate representation, connections between veterans and other marginalized groups, and local and national resources for journalists.

“My part of this training included tips I learned from reporting on PTSD and TBI while a reporter in San Antonio,” said J.P. Lawrence. “I dialed in all the way from Turkey, but it was worth it to hear all the story ideas from the RFA corps members on this topic!”

MVJ Disability Journalism Speakers Bureau training helps reporters access communities of disabled veterans, many of whom feel ignored by news media coverage. The goal is to strengthen coverage on veteran and disability issues and build trust with disabled veterans who may be less trustful of the media. With this collaboration between RFA and MVJ, more news outlets can learn best practices for reporting on disability-related topics and better serve their veteran audiences.

MVJ Disability Journalism Speakers Bureau training sessions are now available for all newsrooms interested in participating. You can book a session for your newsroom here or email Operations Manager Sara Feges if you have any questions regarding the training. MVJ thanks the Ford Foundation for their generous support of this program and RFA for their collaboration on this session.

Our core values are at the heart of our mission to provide meaningful opportunities and support for veterans in the journalism field. They guide the way we advocate for our community as we work to empower and uplift veterans in the news media. At MVJ, we believe that innovation, reliability and diversity are vital to bringing about the change we wish to see for the military and veteran community we serve.

These updates to MVJ’s values were the result of a collaborative effort between our team members and leadership. The process began with a leadership course that emphasized the importance of better defining the concepts that guide MVJ’s mission and vision. After that, our team reflected on our successes and challenges, and discussed how we could improve MVJ’s operations to better serve America’s veterans. These conversations became the three core values that we believe embody the spirit and purpose of MVJ.

Innovation is key to achieving our goal of driving positive change for veterans. We believe in being adaptable and willing to experiment in order to create meaningful impact for our community in the constantly evolving information environment. Our dedication to innovation in news media sets us apart as we strive to bring a bold and creative approach to veteran advocacy.

Reliability is the foundation of all our operations. We are always available to our members, partner organizations, and stakeholders, and make every effort to respond to inquiries and requests in a timely manner. Our reputation for reliable service has empowered us to consistently innovate and foster trust and confidence in our organization.

Diversity is a core value that we embrace in our staffing, programming, and advocacy efforts. We recognize that everyone brings unique experiences and perspectives to our mission, and we strive to create a safe and welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We are committed to creating pathways for individuals from all backgrounds to achieve their goals.

MVJ’s new core values are essential to our mission of driving change for America’s veterans within the news industry. By prioritizing innovation, we are better equipped to tackle complex challenges and develop creative solutions that empower our community. Our commitment to reliability ensures that our members, partner organizations, and stakeholders can always count on us for dependable service and support. Our focus on diversity enables us to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We believe that by serving to these standards every day, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of our fellow veterans. 

MVJ’s new core values will enable us to better serve our community and continue to push America’s veterans to new heights in journalism. Thank you for your continued support of MVJ.

Military Veterans in Journalism is pleased to announce that The Washington Post has selected Army Veteran Eve Sampson to join its 2023 class of summer interns as an MVJ Fellow. Sampson is the second veteran to receive this intern position as part of MVJ and The Post’s partnership to increase the number of military veterans in America’s newsrooms.

Eve Sampson, an Army veteran and journalist student at the University of Maryland, was selected for this year’s internship opportunity with The Washington Post. Follow Eve’s work on Twitter!

Sampson is a student at the University of Maryland, where she is working toward her Master’s in journalism. She is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and commissioned as an Army engineer officer. While serving, Sampson helped integrate some of the first female enlisted combat engineers before deploying to Syria and Kuwait. She has also been a breaking news intern at the Detroit Free Press and a Pentagon reporter with Capital News Service. In her free time, Sampson enjoys traveling and spending time with her rescue dog, Mr. Biggs.

“Meeting some of the most incredible people, hearing their stories and seeing their resilience during my time overseas inspired me to pursue a career in journalism,” Sampson said. “I am so excited to join The Washington Post’s Foreign desk as a Military Veterans in Journalism intern and help tell the stories of people like them.”

As a fellow with The Post’s foreign team, Sampson will learn the ins and outs of international news coverage and assist with reporting stories beyond the United States.

“We enthusiastically welcome Eve. Her breadth of knowledge and expertise will add value to our newsroom and coverage while also serving as a testament to our rewarding partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism,” said Carla Broyles, the newsroom’s senior editor for career development who oversees the summer internship program.

Sampson, whose experience includes reporting with the Detroit Free Press and as a Howard Center for Investigative Journalism fellow, has also said she looks forward to the chance to learn from some of the best journalists in the industry and contribute to thoughtful and nuanced journalism.

 “We at MVJ are grateful for The Washington Post’s dedication to diversity through the inclusion of veteran voices at all levels of their newsroom,” said Russell Midori, MVJ’s president. “We are excited to see Eve’s skills flourish under the guidance of their excellent reporters, and we encourage other newsrooms to take the steps necessary to include more veterans.”

Military Veterans in Journalism is offering free training sessions on disability reporting, including on veterans, for newsrooms across the nation. 

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that about a quarter of all military veterans — an estimated 4.7 million people — have a service-connected disability.

Thanks to support from the Ford Foundation, over the past year, military veterans in the MVJ Speakers Bureau have been training with top disability beat journalists and experts at organizations like Disabled American Veterans with the goal of improving coverage on disabled veterans and the broader disailed community. Now, the participants are taking that training into newsrooms across the nation to increase awareness and understanding when journalists cover these issues.

The training sessions take roughly 60 minutes, and it’s preferred that the training be in-person, but can also be conducted via Zoom.

What will reporters learn?

• Relevant data points on disabled veterans 
• Challenges and common tropes related to disabled veterans
• Intersectionality in the disabled veterans and broader disability communities – how does improving coverage of disabled veterans affect the issues in disability reporting?
• Crafting respectful narratives around disabilities – language and storytelling tips and advice

“Vets need to be a part of the national conversation,” Baddorf added. “We know what it’s like to live with post-traumatic stress, to have tinnitus, to work despite hearing loss. Our experiences can help inform a deeper understanding within the media world of what it’s really like for people with disabilities.” 

MVJ will engage the reporters in a powerful conversation that helps them think critically about their own reporting on disability and provide them with best practices. 

Email MVJ Operations Manager Sara Feges at [email protected] to schedule a free training session for your newsroom.

About Military Veterans in Journalism

Military Veterans in Journalism is a professional association that builds community for vets, supports their career growth, and advocates for diversifying newsrooms through hiring and promoting more vets.

Military Veterans in Journalism is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Top Ten Vets in Journalism contest. This annual contest, started in 2021, is aimed at recognizing and honoring journalists who have made significant contributions to the field of journalism and who have served in the armed forces. It is a testament to the incredible talent and dedication of these journalists, and we are proud to have them as part of the MVJ community.

Please meet 2022’s Top Ten Veterans in Journalism:

Ben Kesling, a former Marine Corps infantry officer, is a Midwest correspondent with The Wall Street Journal in the Chicago bureau where he also focuses on domestic security and veterans issues. He was previously a national security and veterans issues reporter at the Journal’s bureau in Washington. He also has experience as a foreign and combat correspondent. Ben graduated from Wabash College and has a Master of Divinity degree from the Harvard Divinity School. He attended Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.

Anthony Vazquez is a Marine Corps veteran and photojournalist for the Chicago Sun-Times where he concentrates on the city’s south and west sides. Previously, Vazquez was based out of Iowa, where he focused on the effects of Medicaid privatization, and Mexico, where he reported on rural life in the United States and Mexico. In the Marine Corps, Vazquez supervised flight line operations of multiple airfield control groups as well as aided in medical evacuations of injured personnel by securing and designating landing zones for helicopters. His experience in the Marine Corps confirmed the importance of documenting and sharing stories. After the military, Vazquez pursued journalism at the University of Iowa, where he served as photo editor of The Daily Iowan. He moved to Mexico post-graduation to continue documenting illegal immigration. While in Mexico, he was a stringer for The Associated Press and AP Images.

Ron Nixon is an American journalist. He was the homeland security correspondent for The New York Times, and the author of Selling Apartheid: South Africa’s Global Propaganda War. He joined the Associated Press as international investigations editor in early 2019, and was promoted to global investigations editor in March of that year

Dustin Jones is a news desk reporter at NPR, where he covers national and international issues like politics and COVID-19. He holds a Master’s in Documentary Production from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has was MVJ’s first intern with NPR in 2020. He is a veteran Marine Corps sniper with multiple combat deployments. 

He produced a beautiful and moving documentary about veteran suicide while at Columbia. He specializes in breaking news and long-form narrative pieces on issues across the spectrum.

Kenny Holston is a staff photographer for the New York Times. Most recently Kenny has contributed to the NYT coverage of Voting Rights, Afghan Refugees fleeing Afghanistan, politics, the COVID-19 pandemic, the insurrection of the US Capitol, the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, Black Lives Matter movement and the 2020 presidential campaign. Kenny is a former USAF photojournalist who served for 14 years and was awarded the DoD Military Photographer of the Year award in 2015, and is a graduate of both the photojournalism program at Syracuse University and the Eddie Adams XXVII workshop.

Noelle is an award-winning journalist from Cincinnati, Ohio, who came to Coffee or Die Magazine following a fellowship from Military Veterans in Journalism. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and interned with the US Army Cadet Command in college. She worked as a civilian journalist covering several units, including the 75th Ranger Regiment on Fort Benning, before she joined the military and served as a public affairs specialist attached to the 3rd Infantry Division. She deployed once as a media analyst for the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait.

Thomas Brennan is the founder of The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom. He’s the author of Shooting Ghosts with bylines in the Center for Investigative Reporting, Vanity Fair, and on the front page of The New York Times. Brennan has received the prestigious Edward R. Murrow and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Awards.

Paul Szoldra served as an active duty Marine from 2002 until 2010. In 2012, he founded the satirical publication The Duffel Blog. For the past 4 years he has been the Editor in Chief for Task & Purpose. This year he has launched a new publication, The Ruck, with a focus on the future of national security. 

Drew Lawrence is an Army veteran, reporter, and producer of Military.com’s Fire Watch podcast. He is a graduate of The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, where he studied journalism. He hails from Massachusetts and is a proud New England sports fan.

Sara Samora is a Marine Corps veteran and the veterans reporter for Stars and Stripes. A native Texan, she previously worked at the Houston Business Journal and the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. She also serves on the boards of Military Veterans in Journalism and the Houston Association of Hispanic Media Professionals.

These awardees were honored at the MVJ2022 convention, where they were recognized for their achievements and contributions to journalism. They have shown exceptional skills in storytelling and reporting and have used their experiences to bring attention to important issues facing veterans and military families.

About Military Veterans in Journalism:

Military Veterans in Journalism is a professional association that builds community for vets, supports their career growth, and advocates for diversifying newsrooms through hiring and promoting more vets. Learn more at www.www.mvj.network.

Earlier this year, Military Veterans in Journalism and the Ford Foundation launched its Disability Inclusion Program to advocate for better, more nuanced reporting around disabled military veterans. Eleven veterans were chosen to serve as speakers. MVJ organized a training series with top journalists and experts in the disabled veterans and broader disability spaces to discuss these critical issues and teach best practices.

Dan Clare is a Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, a former military journalist, and the chief communications and outreach officer for Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

In May, Dan Clare, the chief communications and outreach officer for DAV (Disabled American Veterans), held two training sessions with the Speakers Bureau veterans. Clare focused on the issues disabled veterans face today and how journalists should approach these concerns.

Clare began with a question: what is a disabled veteran? To him and to DAV, a disabled veteran is “an individual who, while serving in the armed forces, experiences a lasting change in their physical or mental health that impedes their ability to work or function in society.”

Disabled veterans are part of the broader world of disabilities and should be treated as such. One thing that makes service-connected disabled veterans unique, however, is that their disabilities were incurred while they were serving to defend the nation. They are not the only disabled people who have advocated for change, but the improvements in VA medical care and research disabled veterans have advocated for  help the movement to make America more inclusive and accessible to all disabled people.

While the military is rigorous in its physical health standards for enlistment, many veterans leave the service forever changed in some way, Clare said. The disability expert states it’s the public’s obligation to ensure veterans receive the care they need to function in society.

According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 43% of post-9/11 veterans have a chance of having a service-related disability, with 39% of those having a disability rating of 70% or higher. The VA’s budget has risen accordingly over the years. In 2001, the VA received $45 billion in funding, which will increase to $300 billion by 2023. Overall, Clare said there’s an increased awareness of the benefits available to veterans and less reluctance to ask for help.

Yet even with that increased awareness, disabled veterans still struggle to receive the care they’re entitled to, and certain groups face more difficulty than others.

Disabled women veterans from across the country pictured together at the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Women Veterans Empowerment Retreat.

Women veterans comprise the fastest-growing segment of the population but some don’t identify themselves as veterans to others. Of the two million women veterans in the VA system, only 500,000 are currently in treatment, even though 60% of those in the system have a disability rating of 50% or higher. According to Clare, several factors cause this disparity — the accessibility of childcare and housing, harassment at VA care facilities, and disproportionate denial of claims related to military sexual trauma all serve as barriers to care for women veterans.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and racial minority veterans haven’t fared much better over the years. LGBT+ veterans are far more likely to experience depression, and their suicide rates are higher than other veteran groups, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. This group of people often don’t disclose their gender or sexual identity due to a history of mistreatment, bias, and outright denial of care, according to Clare.

Among veterans in racial and ethnic minority groups, service disabled Black vets use the VA care system at the highest rate, with only Hispanic vets coming close behind. Per the VA’s Office of Health Equity, the percentage of minority veterans in the VA system will continue to increase in the future. “The VA needs to diversify its staff,” Clare stated. “It needs to better represent the community it serves.”

Among the more widely-known issues facing veterans today is exposure to environmental toxins in service. Around 3.5 million veterans were exposed to burn pits in the Middle East, and more have been exposed to contaminated water on installations stateside. Yet it takes the VA a very long time to recognize toxin cases related to combat and begin treating them, and it’s often a fight to get there, Clare said. The result is healthy veterans getting sick and dying without access to the care they’ve earned. Clare noted that these veterans die prematurely and without access to benefits, and their families are brushed aside after their deaths. Justice, both for veterans exposed to these toxins and their spouses and families, he said, must be sped up.

The main image for the “Returning War Vet” TV Tropes page, which defines the trope as, “A stock character of many action movies. A character returns home from the military [and] will inevitably be called upon to put his skills to good use.”

“These stories need to be told, and they need to be told in a productive and effective manner,” Clare said. “We need reporters to ask, ‘What is the promise that [the public has] made veterans, and how [is the public] going to make them whole?’”

Clare advised the Speakers Bureau veterans against making broad, sweeping statements or assumptions about veterans in news reporting. Stories containing these statements are often publicity stunts or partisan in nature and don’t reflect the whole disabled veteran community, he explained. Broad assumptions about disabled veterans harm those looking for work, as the misperceptions created cause employers to balk at veterans with disabilities.

Instead, reporters should focus on straightforward, factual portrayals of veterans and provide readers with resources to maximize positive impact. Reminding reporters that they’re not alone, Clare said, is important. There are plenty of organizations like DAV available to reach out to for resources and fact-checking, and they can connect reporters with disabled veteran sources.

An airman tosses unserviceable uniform items into the Joint Base Balad, Iraq, burn pit in this March 2008 file photo. “Military uniform items turned in must be burned to ensure they cannot be used by opposing forces,” the Air Force said in a statement accompanying the photo. (Senior Airman Julianne Showalter/Air Force)

He also shared some tips for the Speakers Bureau members to take to newsrooms: 

• When journalists write headlines, they should avoid exaggerating.
• Journalists need to look at the issue, find the most credible source, and take the time to build a good story.
• Journalists should be objective in their analysis of VA. The department should remain accountable to the veterans and families it serves and the taxpayers who fund it. However, subjective or out-of-context reporting that erodes public faith in the VA could harm its ability to support those who served.
• Reporters should understand that veterans are never required to disclose their disability. If they choose to, the reporter has a duty to report accurately, and does not need to include that information if it’s irrelevant to the story.

Maintaining truth and clarity in reporting on disabled veterans’ issues is what Dan Clare believes should be central in future coverage. “In order for us to have the freedom of the press, citizens have to be willing to make sacrifices for the nation,” he said, “and it’s important to understand the public’s obligation to veterans beyond patriotism.”