Arianna Griffiths | Arts & Life Editor
Alina Panek ‘20 returned to the Hill Nov. 8 to share stories about her career path in journalism– from long hours at CBS Chicago to fellowship at Report for America– in the hopes of inspiring current students to engage with the abundance of resources available to them at Denison to start their own.
During Panek’s time at Denison, she was involved in several extracurriculars outside of her Communications major, most notably serving as Editor-in-Chief
of The Denisonian and co-founding the First-Generation Network, in addition to being heavily involved with Denison Venture Philanthropy.
Through these extracurriculars, she developed the leadership skills she now uses daily as the local partnerships associate with The American Journalism Project. She specifically highlighted the importance of the intersection of philanthropy and grants made to support journalism that Denison Venture Philanthropy taught her.
“The sharpening of those skills was only made possible through my professors, my mentors; the people that supported me.”
About Panek’s recent visit and inspiring advice, Mia Fischel ‘26 said, “It was really inspiring to see her drive…sometimes I find it difficult to take that initiative, so to
hear about her success with that and also about the wide variety of internships and jobs she found was amazing.”
Upon graduation from Denison, Panek returned to CBS Chicago, where she had previously served as an intern for three summers, to run the assignment desk. Working at the assignment desk allowed her to steer coverage and metaphorically stand on the frontlines of the news cycle, as she answered calls and assigned stories to various reporters.
A turning point in Panek’s career was during her time at CBS Chicago, which coincided with the George Floyd case. Panek was the first one to tell the cousin of Emmett Till, a young African-American boy in the 1960’s who was brutally murdered through acts of racial violence, about the results of the George Floyd trial.
“It was really amazing to be able to tell him and get his genuine reaction. I was the first one to tell him,” Panek said. She added that this impactful event showed her how to localize a story by rooting it in history.
Panek additionally worked at Report for America as a journalism education fellow for the Emma Bowen Foundation, which helps place students of color into a variety of paid internships in the journalism and media production industries. Throughout her time at Report for America, she was able to gain insight into how non-profit organizations are developed and improved through her involvement, and she even created an advisory council there to collect feedback and improve the program for years to come.
In terms of advice to aspiring journalists, Panek highlighted the importance of engaging with resources at Denison to learn more about the practice of journalism, and to actually practice journalism itself. Becoming fluent in the dynamics of a newsroom and focusing on the ethics of reporting are incredibly important to her.
As Panek said, “that’s what makes the news cycle work.”