About Us Hero

About the
Howard Center

Our Mission

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University is a ground-breaking, hands-on experience in which students learn how to produce deeply researched watchdog journalism that professional partners want to share with their audiences. The Howard Center is based at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and is supported by a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation. Through the training and education it provides and the projects it produces, the Howard Center is developing the next generation of investigative reporters.

Howard Center Leadership

Maud Beelman

Executive Editor, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

The founding executive editor of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and a professor of practice at the Cronkite School, Beelman is the former U.S. Investigations Editor for The Associated Press and the founding director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. She also directed investigations at The Dallas Morning News for 10 years and served as a domestic, foreign and war correspondent for AP. Beelman has received numerous awards over a nearly four-decade career, including the George Polk, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists and Online Journalism Awards.

Lauren Mucciolo

Executive Producer, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

Mucciolo is the executive producer of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and teaches multimedia storytelling to Cronkite graduate students. She has made more than a dozen broadcast and digital films for PBS Frontline, many of which are co-productions with British broadcasters. Mucciolo is a five-time Emmy nominee who has won two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, an OJA award, a SXSW Jury Prize and a Best Director prize from the Royal Television Society, among other honors.


Howard Center Faculty

Leonard Downie, Jr.

Weil Family Professor of Journalism

Downie is the former executive editor of The Washington Post. Downie led the newspaper to more Pulitzer Prizes than any other editor in history. A founding member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, he specialized in investigative reporting throughout his career and teaches Cronkite courses on accountability journalism.

Sarah Cohen

Knight Chair in Data Journalism

Cohen came to the Cronkite School from The New York Times, where she served as data editor. She won a Pulitzer Prize at The Washington Post, where she also was data editor. Cohen was president of Investigative Reporters & Editors and served as the Knight Professor at Duke University. She teaches data journalism at Cronkite.

Gregg Leslie

Executive Director, First Amendment Clinic, ASU College of Law

Leslie was previously a staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit association that provides legal assistance to journalists, and served as the organization’s legal defense director for 17 years. Leslie serves on the governing committee of the Communications Law Forum of the American Bar Association.

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism ASU Advisory Board

Board Members

Maud Beelman

Executive Director, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

Talia Buford

Talent Development Director, ProPublica

Mike Canan

Director of Journalism Strategies, Scripps Howard Foundation

Liz Carter

President and CEO, Scripps Howard Foundation

Leonard Downie Jr.

Weil Family Professor in Journalism and Former Executive Editor of The Washington Post

Brian Lawlor

President of Local Media, The E.W. Scripps Company

Gregg Leslie

Executive Director, First Amendment Clinic, ASU College of Law

Ron Nixon

Global Investigations Editor, The Associated Press

Roy Perkins

Communications and Public Affairs Specialist

Ex Officio Members

Battinto Batts

Dean, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Rebecca Blatt

Senior Associate Dean, Cronkite School

Kristin Gilger

Reynolds Professor in Business Journalism, Cronkite School

Jake Howard-Potter

Artist

Pam Howard

Emeritus Board Member, Scripps Howard Foundation

The Scripps Howard Foundation supports philanthropic causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company and the communities it serves, with a special emphasis on excellence in journalism. The Fund has granted millions of dollars to Arizona State University and the University of Maryland to establish the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism at their respective journalism schools.

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Awards

2022

SPJ National, 1st Place, In-Depth Reporting

2022

IRE, Finalist, Student (Large)

2022

Shaufler Prize, 1st Place, Student Reporting

2022

Best of the West, 3rd Place, Project Reporting

2022

Finalist, Online Journalism Awards, Student Team Journalism Award

2022

Finalist, Online Journalism Awards, Student Team Journalism Award

2022

Finalist, Online Journalism Awards, 3M Truth in Science Award

2022

EPPY, 1st place, Best College Investigation

2022

EPPY, 1st place, Best Video on a College Website

2022

EPPY, Finalist, Best Feature Story on a College Website

2021

AZ Press Club, 2nd Place, Student Investigative Reporting

2021

AZ Press Club, 2nd Place, Don Bolles Award for Investigative Reporting

2021

EPPY, 1st place, Best College Investigation

2020

EPPY, 1st place, Best College Investigation

2020

EPPY, 1st place, Best News Story

2020

EPPY, Finalist, Best News Story

2020

BEA, 1st Place, Educational

2020

BEA, 2nd Place, Specialty Program & Podcasts

2020

AHCJ, 1st Place, Student Reporting

2020

IRE, 1st Place, Student (Large)

2020

SPJ Regional, 1st Place, Student Online News Reporting

2020

SPJ Regional, Finalist, Student Online In-Depth Reporting

2020

SPJ Regional, Finalist, Student (Large) COVID 19

2020

SPJ National, 1st Place, Online News Reporting

2020

SPJ, Best in Show, Mark of Excellence

Our Partners