The Current GA is a not-for-profit, independent newsroom with a dedicated staff of professional journalists with experience in the community, state, nation and world.
MARGARET COKER, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Margaret Coker, the editor-in-chief, started her two-decade career in journalism at Cox Newspapers before going to work at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In that time she covered stories from 32 countries on four continents.
Margaret has won numerous national journalism prizes for investigative, business and diplomatic reporting as well as feature writing. She led a team of Wall Street Journal reporters named as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting in 2017. She is the author of “The Spymaster of Baghdad,” a nonfiction book of Iraqi patriotism in the battle against Isis.
Margaret’s journalism has led to criminal trials and regulatory investigations of global banks and financiers, the dismissal of 14 corrupt police officers, and freedom for three people wrongly convicted and incarcerated. She speaks Arabic and Russian.
She came home to Savannah in 2019 to launch The Current, to revive an investigative news culture in Coastal Georgia, and to mentor a new generation of journalists in our region. Contact her at margaret.coker@thecurrentga.org
SUSAN CATRON, MANAGING EDITOR
Susan Catron, managing editor, has more than two decades of experience in Georgia newspapers.
From November 2005 until May 2020, Susan served as executive editor of the Savannah Morning News. During her time there, she supervised news content, staffing and budgets for Coastal Georgia’s largest daily newspaper and several weekly newspapers, along with other monthly and special publications. The paper was named best in the state eight times under her leadership.
A native of North Carolina, she came to Georgia in 1998 as managing editor for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. The news staff won the Georgia Associated Press Freedom of Information Award in 2005 for its coverage and ensuing state Supreme Court litigation of a case involving the shooting after an unarmed Black man by a law enforcement officer. She’s also worked at daily newspapers in Louisiana, Missouri, Florida and Kentucky.
She is an adjunct instructor at Savannah State University, the owner of Catron Content Services, a board member of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation and Savannah Council on World Affairs, a lapsed Georgia Master Gardener, and loves to kayak the marshes and rivers along the coast. Contact her at susan.catron@thecurrentga.org
JOURNALISTS
MARY LANDERS
Mary Landers covers Coastal Georgia’s environment for The Current, a topic she covered for nearly 24 years at the Savannah Morning News, where she began and ended her time there writing about health, including most recently focusing on the pandemic. She’s adept at telling the stories of everyone from jellyfish fishers to pipeline protesters.
Mary is a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, where she taught environmental science at Lake Malawi National Park. She also speaks Chichewa and basic Spanish. As a reporter in Georgia, she’s won numerous investigative reporting awards as well as the Larry Peterson Investigative Journalism Award. Contact her at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
ROBIN KEMP
Robin was the founder of The Clayton Crescent, a nonprofit news site where she published independent, accountability news for her neighbors for more than 3 years. Her work is a continuation of a family tradition. Born in New Orleans on Mardi Gras, Robin grew up in her father’s newsroom, then worked for the weekly paper, Gambit. As a reporter there, she covered the environment, politics, small business, and culture before coming to Georgia to work at CNN. After graduate school and a period of teaching and freelance writing, Robin worked at The Weather Channel, where she innovated the power outage map, before returning to newspaper reporting in Clayton County. She was named the 2021 Media Changemaker by the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism. Robin loves coastal culture, dogs, the blues, photography, and good people. Send Liberty County news tips to her at: robin.kemp@thecurrentga.org
JABARI GIBBS
Jabari Gibbs is an accountability reporter for Glynn County. He is a Report for America Fellow. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and is a graduate of Georgia Southern University-Armstrong Campus. He was a 2023 summer fellow at The Current, sponsored by the Emma Bowen Foundation. At Georgia Southern, he majored in communications, and served as the Editor-in-Chief for The George-Anne Inkwell. His investigative pieces have led to change at the university. In his free time he enjoys playing video games and working out. Contact him at jabari.gibbs@thecurrentga.org
MAGGIE LEE
Maggie Lee is a data reporter for The Current. She has been covering Georgia and metro Atlanta government and politics since 2008, contributing writing and data journalism over the years to Creative Loafing, SaportaReport, Reporter Newspapers, The Telegraph (Macon) and others. Find her online at maggielee.net.
CRAIG NELSON
Craig Nelson is a former international correspondent for The Associated Press, the Sydney (Australia) Morning-Herald, Cox Newspapers and The Wall Street Journal. He also served as foreign editor for The National (Abu Dhabi) and as the Journal’s Kabul bureau chief and London-based Africa and Middle East editor. He speaks Spanish. He lives and works in Savannah as a freelance writer. Contact him at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com
JUSTIN TAYLOR
Justin Taylor is a full-time visual journalist for The Current GA and Report for America/Catchlight Local. If his name is familiar, he was a freelance photographer before that working regularly for The Current, as well as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His versatile style blends elements of fine art, photojournalism, and drone photography.
A Savannah native, Justin is committed to documenting the changing life in surrounding Coastal Georgia. Often focusing on environmental issues and disappearing regional communities, Justin’s photography has a true sense of story that illuminates the every day from new angles.
Justin’s obsession with photography started in 2003 while documenting his experience as a U.S. Marine during the Iraq War, and he remains inspired by creating images that tell a story and capture the feeling of a moment. During his 15 years piloting tug boats on the Savannah River, he used his off time to travel the country, exploring and documenting the landscapes of the American West. When not traveling the country, Justin can be found en route to a new adventure with camera in hand and dog, Miles, in tow. Contact him at justin.taylor@thecurrentga.org
SARAH HARWELL
Sarah Harwell is social media editor. She is a Florida native and 2024 graduate of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She has served as editor and brand engagement manager for Centric magazine and beat reporter for NSM Today, both student-run publications at UCF, as well as interned at i4 business magazine. Sarah came to The Current as a Dow Jones News Fund audience engagement intern in 2023. She came back to The Current for Election 2024 work leading 3 college interns for social media presentations for 6 weeks. Contact her at sarahh.thecurrent@gmail.com
COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT
CHRISTOPHER SWEAT
Chris has a wealth of experience in Coastal Georgia in the for-profit and non-profit worlds, mostly recently at the Coastal Georgia YMCA. He has worked in marketing for SMG Facilities, the Savannah Morning News, Ghost Coast Distillery and events management for Playbook, Inc. He’s a journalism graduate of the University of Georgia and president of the Savannah alumni chapter. He has a master’s degree in professional communication from Georgia Southern. Contact him at christopher.sweat@thecurrentga.org.
KATIE NUSSBAUM
Katie is a development consultant for The Current GA. A graduate of Armstrong Atlantic State University, she has more than a decade of experience in journalism and public relations. Most recently, she worked at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, where she helped lead media relations. From 2012 to 2022, she worked as a reporter for the Savannah Morning News covering local government, business and community issues, earning multiple Georgia Press Association awards for business writing and community service. In her free time, she enjoys trying to keep up with her toddler, baking, painting and spending time outdoors. Contact her at katie.thecurrentga@gmail.com.
COLLEGIATE REPORTING STAFF
2025
JASMINE WRIGHT
Jasmine Wright is a 2025 graduate from Indiana University with a bachelor’s in journalism. While at IU, Jasmine worked as an investigative reporter for the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism and as a local government reporter and feature writer for the radio station WFHB. She now works as a fall reporting fellow for The Current through the Scripps Howard Foundation. Contact her at jasmine.thecurrentga@outlook.com
TYLER DAVIS
Tyler Davis, a Jacksonville, Fla., native, is a senior set to graduate in December from American University with a degree in journalism and literature. While at AU, they worked as The Eagle‘s news managing editor, overseeing coverage of Title IX cases and the university’s budget deficit. Tyler has also interned for DC Witness, a non-profit newsroom dedicated to covering violent crime cases at the D.C. Superior Courthouse. They come to The Current as the Dow Jones News Fund business reporting intern. Contact them at tyler.thecurrent@gmail.com
DOMONIQUE KING
Domonique King is a senior at Mercer University double majoring in journalism and political science. She is interning at The Current through the Couric Fellowship, awarded by the Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism. She currently writes for The Den, Mercer University’s news and features website, and is an intern at Storytellers Macon, a nonprofit. Domonique is from Hinesville and a graduate of Bradwell Institute. She is passionate about making knowledge of systemic issues accessible to underserved communities. Contact her at domonique.thecurrent@gmail.com
ELLEN HUNTER
Ellen Hunter is a senior at Savannah State University majoring in mass communications with a concentration in journalism. She’s served as staff reporter and editor-in-chief of The Tigers Roar campus news site and has worked as a public relations intern for the City of Hinesville. She is a graduate of Bradwell Institute. Contact her at ellenthecurrentga@gmail.com.
LILY BELLE POLING
Lily Belle Poling is a rising junior at Yale University, where she studies English and Chinese. Originally from Montgomery, Alabama, she is the managing editor of the Yale Daily News, where she previously covered local housing and homelessness. She previously interned at The Blade, a daily regional newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. This summer, she is The Current’s Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting intern. Contact her at lilybelle.thecurrent@gmail.com
2024
ELECTION 2024 SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNS
University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism students Audrey Hamm, Bridget Goodman, Emily Laycock, led by 2023 summer staffer Sarah Harwell.
GILLIAN GOODMAN
Gillian Goodman is a New York-based journalist and recent graduate of Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, she had a five-year career writing and producing advertising campaigns at Ogilvy, including work advocating for gun reform and fighting hiring bias. Her journalistic work has appeared in Democracy Now, Truthout, and Prism, among others, and she has been featured in Vanity Fair and New York magazine.
JULIA GENTIN
Julia Gentin is from Mountain View, California, and is a Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought major at Amherst College. She is currently working for the Student Press Law Center and serving as a managing news editor at The Amherst Student. Julia was an editorial intern at The Six Fifty last summer and in-depth editor of the MVHS Oracle in high school. She also participated in the Medill Cherubs summer journalism workshop. In her free time, she loves to trail run, sing, and support local news.
CATHERINE GOODMAN
Catherine Goodman, a Savannah native, is a junior at Emory University. She is majoring in English and Art History and is the Arts & Life Editor for The Emory Wheel. At The Wheel she writes a bi-weekly column titled “Cat’s Collection,” in which she reviews and profiles new music and artists. Catherine is passionate about exploring the intersection between arts, culture and politics, and is a firm believer that everyone has a story to tell. In her free time, she enjoys reading, walking in Forsyth Park and watching live music.
BRIANNA LEONARD
Brianna Leonard is from Okeechobee, Florida, and graduated in May from Florida A&M University with a degree in political science and journalism. She worked as a news intern for The Borgen Project magazine where she wrote weekly articles focused on poverty issues; and she’s had experiences working on political campaigns during the 2022 primary elections in Florida. She is a Dow Jones News Fund fellow and is reporting on voting and election coverage this summer.
AMIRA MCKEE
Amira McKee is a senior at Columbia University majoring in Sociology. She serves as the Head of Investigations at the Columbia Daily Spectator. She is one of 5 young journalists selected to ProPublica’s Emerging Reporters Program for the 2024-2025 academic year. Beyond Columbia, Amira has interned at NBC Nightly News and ABC New York and The Current GA through the Dow Jones News Fund. With a special interest in issues surrounding housing, land use, and labor, she hopes to pursue metro and investigative journalism. Contact her at amira.thecurrent@gmail.com
SERRA SOWERS
Serra Sowers is a recent alumni from the University of Florida and a new Dow Jones News Fund 2024 intern working on environmental multimedia reporting for The Current. She’s a full-time reporter at WXII in Winston-Salem, NC. During her time as a journalist at UF, she worked for WUFT, a PBS and NPR affiliate station covering everything from hurricanes to local elections for Gainesville and the North Central Florida area. Her work has been recognized by multiple national organizations like the Broadcast Education Association and the Hearst Awards. Outside the newsroom, she loves spending time with family, exploring the great outdoors, surfing and musical theatre.
2023
KAILEY COTA
Kailey Cota is a reporter at the Charleston Post & Courier. She worked as data reporting intern at The Current through the Dow Jones News Fund. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and was named the 2021 S.C. Collegiate Journalist of the Year. She worked at The Daily Gamecock, USC’s student newspaper, throughout her time in school and was most recently the Editor-in-Chief.
AUDREY GIBBS
Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist at the Nashville Tennessean. She graduated in 2023 from Columbia Journalism School in New York City, where she received her Master of Science in journalism. Prior to her time at Columbia, she studied English at Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee. She is a North Carolina native.
CAELEN MCQUILKIN
Caelen McQuilkin is from Lee Vining, California, and a 2023 graduate of Amherst College. She has worked as a managing news editor and managing features editor for The Amherst Student, the student newspaper for Amherst College, and as a staff reporter and writer for The Mammoth Times, the regional newspaper that covers her hometown.
EMMA BOWEN FELLOWSHIP, 2022
JEFFERY GLOVER
Jeffery M. Glover graduated from Savannah State University in 2024 and is a documentary filmmaker and works at WSAV-TV in Savannah. He was raised in Beaufort, South Carolina. Following graduation from Beaufort High School, he joined the US Army as an artilleryman and served in a variety of countries for six years. While living in Germany, he picked up photography as a hobby and now hopes to gain experience as a visual journalist. As the recipient of an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellowship, Jeffery worked with The Current to enhance the skills that he has learned so far in his studies.
2022
KATE GRIEM
Kate Griem is a Brooklyn native and an undergraduate at Harvard College, currently pursuing degrees in social studies and psychology. She is a staff writer for the Harvard Crimson magazine, while she was previously the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and the co-director of the online youth activist resource center Teens Resist. Her work has appeared in City Limits and Teen Vogue. In her spare time, she enjoys working out, reading, doing the Wordle, and playing club ultimate frisbee. Her internship was made possible this summer by the Harvard Institute of Politics’ Summer Stipend Program.
SONIA CHAJET WIDES
Sonia Chajet Wides is from Brooklyn, New York, and is currently a student at Amherst College. She is a managing news editor at The Amherst Student. Sonia was previously the founder and co-director of the online youth activist resource center Teens Resist and was a staff writer at her high school’s newspaper. Her work has also appeared in Teen Vogue. In her free time, she loves creative writing, baking, and hiking. Sonia’s summer internship at The Current was made possible by the Charles Hamilton Houston Internship Program at Amherst College.
OLIVIA SCOTT
Olivia Scott is an honors student at Mercer University majoring in journalism with minors in sociology and political science. She’ll spend her internship helping to launch a social media engagement program to reach more young adults who are interested in Coastal Georgia politics. Olivia is a Savannah native and serves as a Social Media Ambassador at Mercer and a State Student Ambassador for Savannah Arts Academy. She believes it is important for young people to get involved in politics because they are future leaders.
NICK SULLIVAN
Nick Sullivan is an education reporter at the Arizona Republic. He’s also worked at the Colorado Springs Post-Gazette. Nick is a 2022 Honors College graduate of the University of South Carolina. He was the managing editor at his college paper, The Daily Gamecock, before going on to investigate topics such as healthcare and capital punishment while interning with the projects team at The State. He came to The Current as a Dow Jones News Fund data journalism intern.
WILLIAM DAUGHTRY
William Daughtry is a native of McIntosh County. He is a 2024 graduate of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He was a contributor to The Red and Black, the University of Georgia’s school paper. William graduated from McIntosh County Academy in 2020 with honors, obtaining the Zell Miller Scholarship.
2021
JACQUELINE GANUN
Jacqueline GaNun is a native of Coastal Georgia and a graduate student at the University of Georgia. She is a former editor for The Red & Black, an independent student-run newspaper, where she has covered stories about communities at UGA and in Athens. Some of her work has also appeared in The New York Times. In her spare time, Jacqueline enjoys reading, walking and listening to music. Her summer work study at The Current was made possible in part by The University of Georgia Journalism Innovation Lab, a project of the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership.
KAYLA GUILLIAMS
Kayla Guilliams is an environment and science reporter who’s earned her master’s degree in journalism through the environment and science communication program at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism. Kayla graduated in May 2021 as a first-generation and honors student from UNC with a degree in environmental studies and minors in statistics and journalism. A Western North Carolina native, she came to The Current as an intern through the Dow Jones News Fund’s data journalism program.
JASMINE FREEMAN
Jasmine Freeman attended Savannah State University majoring in mass communication with a concentration in journalism and now attends Savannah College of Art and Design. She served as an illustrator and editor of the university’s newspaper, The Tiger’s Roar. Jasmine pioneered visual storytelling for The Current during her internship sponsored by the Emma Bowen Foundation.
LIZ RICHARDS
Liz Richards attained her master’s degree in engagement journalism at the City University of New York Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, which sponsored her internship with The Current. She’s focusing on education reporting, a passion sparked during her time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica. She has a master’s of fine arts in creative nonfiction from The New School and has freelanced for Our Town, The CITY and Brooklyn Magazine.
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