Omidyar Network Announces New Class of Reporters in Residence
Program Aims to Increase Quality News Coverage of Pressing Economic Issues
July 12, 2023
Washington, DC – Omidyar Network today announced the three latest journalists to join its Reporters in Residence program. The three reporters – Megan Greenwell, Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, and Hamilton Nolan – were chosen from a competitive pool of more than 75 candidates, and will spend the next six months pursuing news stories tied to one of the core programmatic areas within Omidyar Network’s Reimagining Capitalism area of practice, which works to shape a new, inclusive economy where markets serve the interests of all people and society.
The Reporters in Residence program aims to expand the amount and quality of reporting on big-picture economic issues by generating more news stories on topics such as the growing movement for worker power, the changing role of corporations in society, and new policy ideas that could fundamentally alter the shape of our economy. The program is designed to enable a group of freelance journalists to devote more time to the type of deep, nuanced reporting that drives national conversations and informs policy debates.
“Through our Reporters in Residence program, we aim to expand the breadth and depth of coverage of a variety of important economic topics that are often overlooked,” said Alexis Krieg, a Director of Strategic Communications at Omidyar Network, a social change venture working to build more inclusive and equitable societies. “Robin, Megan, and Hamilton each bring a unique voice and have a strong track-record of covering broader economic issues from surprising angles. We’re thrilled to have them in the program and already looking forward to the new stories they are sure to uncover.”
About the reporters:
- Megan Greenwell will focus on Corporations, Capital Markets, and the Common Good. She is a freelance editor and writer with extensive experience in all areas of print and digital media. She often writes about how policy issues shape the lives of everyday people and is currently writing a narrative nonfiction book for HarperCollins about how the growing influence of the private equity industry affects workers and communities. A former editor at publications including WIRED, Deadspin, and New York Magazine, she has written for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The California Sunday Magazine. She serves on the steering committee for the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, a journalism workshop and college access initiative for high school seniors from low-income backgrounds.
- Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein will focus on New Economic Paradigm. He is a freelance essayist, critic, and journalist. He writes about the workplace, economic life, New York City, criminal justice and culture. Currently, he is at work on a book about the authoritarianism of the American workplace to be published by Harper. He’s written for numerous outlets including the Baffler, Harper’s, Mother Jones, the Nation, the New York Times, the New Republic, and the New Yorker. He grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lives in New York City.
- Hamilton Nolan will focus on Worker Power. He is a labor reporter who has spent more than a decade covering labor and politics for outlets including Gawker, In These Times, The Guardian, and others. He is the author of The Hammer, a book about the American labor movement that is set to be published by Hachette Books in early 2024. Since 2015, he has been active in the movement to organize the media industry, as a member of the Writers Guild of America, East.
Nolan, Greenwell, and Kaiser-Schatzlein will comprise the second class of Omidyar Network’s Reporters in Residence. The inaugural cohort included Bryce Covert, Kim Kelly, and Edward Ongweso Jr., who collectively published dozens of stories on topics ranging from the debate over the Federal Reserve’s approach to addressing inflation to the role of tech investors in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank to how the decline of unions and government regulation has contributed to a resurgence of black lung disease. Their stories ran in publications such as ABC News, Bloomberg, Fast Company, In These Times, The Nation, The New York Times, Slate, and Teen Vogue, among many others, reaching a wide and diverse audience.
The residency will take place from July to December of 2023, with each reporter continuing to follow the leads on the economic issues they deem most important. Reporters will receive a monthly stipend, coverage of some travel expenses, and access to Omidyar Network partners and staff throughout the course of the residency program. Following Omidyar Network’s commitment to transparency and journalistic independence, the reporters will maintain full editorial control and discretion over their work.
The application period for the next cohort is expected to open in October of 2023.
