Mountain State Spotlight is excited to welcome Kathambari “Kat” Ramkumar to the organization as a fellow focused on innovation.
Kat is a rising senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia majoring in journalism with an emphasis in writing and reporting. Her work has appeared in Community Impact, Under the Radar Music Magazine, The Kansas City Beacon, and Ms. Magazine. She most recently covered Missouri state government for The Missourian and KBIA.
“To provide all West Virginians with the news they need and deserve, we know that the old ways of journalism alone will not suffice,” said Ken Ward Jr., founding editor-in-chief. “I am excited for Kat’s addition to our team as we find new ways to tell the stories that readers need.”
Kat joins the team as a Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) Student Innovation Fellow. She will spend the summer working alongside Audience Manager Tyler Dedrick to find ways to make Mountain State Spotlight’s journalism more accessible and impactful to West Virginians.
Each summer, the Student Innovation Fellowship program at the Reynolds Journalism Institute sends University of Missouri journalism students to community newsrooms all over the country, where they help expand and engage audiences through hands-on experimentation with a variety of tools and strategies. Over the course of the 12-week fellowship period, they also write articles for RJI’s Innovation in Focus series with insights for journalists and news organizations looking to emulate their work.
“Kat has a proven track record implementing creative engagement strategies and products to meet readers where they are,” Tyler said. “We’re eager to have her on the team to help us reach more West Virginians with our reporting.”
In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, photography, and cooking.