Renee Feltz
Renee Feltz was introduced to journalism in the listener-sponsored, commercial-free environment of the Pacifica radio network. She founded the news department at KPFT in Houston, Texas, where her focus on under-represented voices led her to interview more than 25 men and women on Texas Death Row. During Hurricane Katrina she coordinated national coverage for the network and traveled to New Orleans to interview immigrants as they rebuilt the city without protective gear. She has also reported for the BBC, CBC, FSRN, Air America, Making Contact, The Texas Observer, Mother Jones, Indymedia, and The Indypendent. She graduated in 2008 from the Columbia School of Journalism, where she had a broadcast concentration and was a fellow in the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. She and her colleague, Stokely Baksh, won the Melvin Mencher Award for Superior Reporting, and the James A. Wechsler Award for National Reporting for their multimedia investigative masters project, www.BusinessofDetention.com, which examined how one well-connected company dominates the business of detaining undocumented immigrants until they agree to be deported.
