Improving coverage of poverty in U.S.
For the University of Georgia in 2012 and 2016, Schnellinger researched and developed basic guidance for reporters and editors on covering four issues related to poverty – nonprofits, charitable giving, economic development, and the wealth and income gap.
Her blog on the topic, at NewsNumbers, included posts on how to get data and report on these issues. Based on this instruction and individual mentoring, four Georgia journalists did their own reporting and offered feedback.
This resulted in four model stories, plus the blog instructional posts and tutorials at the University of Georgia’s CoveringPoverty.org website.
In 2016, Schnellinger was a guest lecturer for journalism students at UGA on obtaining and using census data related to income inequality.
Schnellinger served as conference executive for the Knight Poverty Journalism Initiative inaugural conference in September 2012, and conducted a skills session on covering nonprofits during the conference.