Midwest Newsroom Welcomes First Reporting Fellow, This Year's Summer Intern
For Immediate Releases
Midwest Newsroom Welcomes First Reporting Fellow, This Year's Summer Intern
LINCOLN, Neb. (June 10, 2025) – The Midwest Newsroom, an investigative and enterprise reporting collaboration, including Nebraska Public Media and public media stations in the region, is proud to welcome Naomi Delkamiller and Jessica Meza to the team.
Delkamiller, a 2025 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, serves as an inaugural investigative fellow working for 12 months in the Nebraska Public Media news department. A grant from philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation helped to launch the fellowship.
While a student, Delkamiller completed an investigative reporting fellowship and a social media internship with the Flatwater Free Press nonprofit newsroom. In addition, she traveled to the Southwest and to upstate New York as a Carnegie-Knight News21 Reporting Fellow.
Delkamiller, an Omaha native, will work out of the Nebraska Public Media newsroom in Lincoln and travel the region during the fellowship.
“I can’t think of a better place to launch my post-grad journalism career than alongside the talented reporters and editors at the Midwest Newsroom,” Delkamiller said. “I’m excited to grow as a journalist across platforms and emerge as a stronger reporter dedicated to truth and accountability in the Midwest and beyond.”
Holly Edgell, The Midwest Newsroom’s managing editor, said Delkamiller will be an excellent addition to the team.
“She already knows many investigative reporting fundamentals and will bring her curiosity and zeal for journalism to our work with partners around the region,” Edgell said.
Meza joins The Midwest Newsroom as the collaborative’s summer intern through The Hortencia Zavala Foundation summer internship program, created in 2017 by Hugo Balta and his family to support young journalists while honoring the legacy of their maternal grandmother, “Abuelita,” Hortencia Zavala. Balta is the Publisher of Latino News Network, Executive Editor of the Fulcrum, and twice president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
“I’m elated to be able to partner once again with the Midwest Newsroom and expand the relationship this year to include the Fulcrum. Collaboration is key to success,” Balta said. “I am grateful to play a small role in Jessica’s successful journalism journey.”
This is the second year of the partnership that allows a student journalist to learn investigative and solutions journalism skills.
Meza, who is from Lincoln and just completed her junior year at UNL, will have the opportunity to see her work published by The Midwest Newsroom, LNN and the Fulcrum.
“We are very excited to work with Jessica Meza, who has already proven herself as a driven public service journalist,” Edgell said.
Fluent in Spanish and English, Meza said she hopes to utilize her bilingual skills to defy language barriers and connect communities.
“I hope to bring more awareness on issues going on to the Latino community, as well as bringing local news to Latinos through radio, social media and online news,” Meza said.
Meza has worked with the Nebraska News Service in producing the podcast Inside the Writer’s Mind. She will be able to report her own audio and digital stories from Nebraska Public Media’s Lincoln newsroom and remotely. She earned the chance to attend the 2025 Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in New Orleans through IRE’s fellowship program.
Meza and Delkamiller started June 9.
The Midwest Newsroom is a partnership between Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media News, STLPR and NPR to provide investigative journalism and in-depth reporting with a focus on Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Sandi Karstens, 402-470-6578
About Nebraska Public Media
Nebraska Public Media has connected citizens with news, sports, education and entertainment since 1954. Providing global and compelling stories from PBS and NPR, the statewide public media network also produces award-winning local content. Its programs and services reach Nebraskans on television, radio, online, social media and mobile apps. Visit NebraskaPublicMedia.org for more information.