Tessa Duvall

EXPERIENCE

THE COURIER JOURNAL [website]
Louisville, Kentucky
Investigative reporter: March 2019 to present

» Co-lead reporter on the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, a highly competitive national story based in Louisville. Responsibilities included: breaking significant news, such as the ‘no-knock’ clause on the search warrants; using records to investigate and analyze police actions; writing explanatory pieces that help readers understand the complexities of the case, like a fact check that received more than 3.2 million views; launching and curating a weekly newsletter on Taylor’s case and the police reform movement; and frequently, appearing on national new outlets to provide updates, including MSNBC, CBS News, ABC’s 20/20 and NPR

» Contributor to the 2020 Pultizer Prize-winning staff coverage of former Gov. Matt Bevin’s controversial pardons

THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION [website]
Jacksonville, Florida
Enterprise reporter: December 2014 to February 2019

» Reported a deep dive into the root causes of Duval County’s juvenile homicide problem, which included extensive data work, examination of court records and the creation of a survey which was taken by incarcerated sources

» Earned a competitive grant to cover 85 percent of the cost of two programs to promote reader engagement – Hearken and GroundSource – worth more than $14,000

» Reported a four-month project about the transformation taking place at a historically troubled urban middle school, which led to an invitation to speak at TEDxJacksonville in 2015

» Ongoing coverage of juvenile life without parole and juvenile homicide, which has included enterprise reporting, profiles and courtroom dispatches

» Investigated the failings of state and local agencies in the handling of a teenage girl's ordeal as a human trafficking survivor by developing trust with the victim and analyzing years of documents

MIDLAND REPORTER-TELEGRAM [website]
Midland, Texas
Education Reporter: January 2014 to December 2014

» Daily and enterprise coverage of two public school districts, a community college, a university, charter and private schools

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC [website]
Phoenix, Arizona
Pulliam Fellow, Phoenix community staff: June 2013 to August 2013

THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL [website]
Memphis, Tennessee
Scripps Howard Intern, Metro staff: June 2012 to August 2012

THE DAILY NEWS [website]
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Kentucky Press Association Intern: May 2011 to July 2011

THE EAGLE POST [website]
Oak Grove, Kentucky
and the
KENTUCKY NEW ERA [website]
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Kentucky Press Association Intern: June 2010 to August 2010

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD [website]
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Various roles including editor-in-chief: 2010-2013

EDUCATION

WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, 2013 [website]
Bowling Green, Kentucky

» Bachelor of Arts in News/Editorial Journalism, Sociology
» Minor in Political Science

HONORS

2020 LOUISVILLE METRO SPJ AWARDS
1st, continuing coverage

2019 THE PARKER THOMSON AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING LEGAL JOURNALISM IN FLORIDA
2nd, “When Kids Kill”

2019 BOWARD COUNTY CRIME COMMISSION 5TH ANNUAL JUVENILE CRIME CONFERENCES
Keynote speaker

2018 FLORIDA PRESS CLUB AWARDS
The Freedom of Information Award

2017 NATIOMAL FELLOW, CNETER FOR HEALTH JOURNALISM, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

» Grant recipient for project about the prevalence of juvenile homicide offenders in Jacksonville

2017 SUNSHINE STATE AWARDS
1st, crime and courts beat reporting

2017 FLORIDA PRESS CLUB AWARDS
1st, public safety reporting, general news and serious feature writing

2016 FLORIDA PRESS CLUB AWARDS
1st, education reporting

CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTING FELLOW, JOHN JAY COLLEGE CENTER ON MEDIA
Fellow, 2016, 2017 & 2018

2016 MORRIS JOURNALISM EXCELLENCE AWARDS
1st, community engagement

» Judges said this was an "excellent example" of work that went "way beyond the traditional reporting"

REFERENCES

Available upon request