Anastasia Ustinova is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, and speaks three languages fluently: Russian English and Spanish. She interned at the Washington, DC, bureaus for the Chicago Tribune (Summer 2004) and Knight Ridder (Spring 2004). She has a Master's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, where she also taught undergraduate Spanish classes. Her main interest is in a diversity beat, but she has also covered business and politics. She improved her multimedia skills as a volunteer at the NPR station in Peoria,Ill., and has taken audio classes.

Anastasia Ustinova, Reporter
Hearst Fellow, 2006
University of Illinois graduate

Noel Smith was a part-time correspondent for the Navajo Times when she was accepted into the Fellowship program. She is a graduste of Northern Arizona University and worked as a correspondent for the Gallup (N.M.) Independant and as an intern at the Arizona Daily Star in Tuscon. She is passionate about journalism and views the Fellowship as a way to increase her knowledge and experience. Although she has covered government beats and news, she has a preference for features and entertainment: she loves music and never passes up a chance to visit independant record shops wherever she is.

Noel Smith, Reporter
Hearst Fellow, 2006
Northern Arizona University graduate

Bryan Chu is a graduate of UCLA with a degree in political science and a passion for writing about sports: as a high school senior, he job-shadowed L.A. Times reporter Bill Plaschke. He also did a six-week internship with L.A. Daily News sports reporter Doug Spoon his freshman year at UCLA. In Summer 2004, he was a sports reporter for the Torrance (Ca.) Daily Breeze and in 2005 interned at the Denver Post. He is extremely focused on his career and sees in the Fellowship an opportunity to do non-Sports beats because it would give him more experience outside his realm: "It can only make my writing better."

Bryan Chu, Reporter
Hearst Fellow, 2006
UCLA graduate

Moises Mendoza attends the school of foreign service at Georgetown University. His internships include the LA Times' DC bureau and the St. Petersburg Times. His goal is to be a great community reporter because he loves "gritty, ground-level reporting." He speaks Spanish and German, but needs some intense practice to regain his former fluency.

Moises Mendoza,
Hearst Fellow, 2007
Georgetown University graduate

Jemimah Noonoo has a BA in Sociology from the University of Illinois (Chicago) and is completing her Masters in Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has worked as a copy editor for the Columbia Missourian, as a convergence editor and producer for KOMU-TV and the Missourian and has interned at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also has experience in radio and TV.

Jemimah Noonoo
Hearst Fellow, 2007
University of Missouri Columbia graduate

Joseph Tartakoff is graduating from Harvard, where he has served the past year as executive editor of the Crimson. His internships include the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post. He describes his reporting approach as getting involved with the story without playing a role in the story. "Immersion theory" might best capture that idea. He's very interested in business reporting, He speaks Spanish (his mother is Cuban) as well as French.

Joseph Tartakoff
Hearst Fellow, 2007
Harvard College graduate

Bobby Hankinson is graduating from Northeastern University in Boston. He has a journalism major and a graphics design minor. In addition to on internship at the Boston Globe, he is currently a blogger at boston.com and spent a summer as an assistant news producer for the Web site. He is interested in continuing to report on arts and entertainment, with a heavy online emphasis.

Bobby Hankinson
Hearst Fellow, 2007
Northeastern University