Ben Welsh, current editor of the Data and Graphics Department at the Los Angeles Times, joins the Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence as a fellow. (Image courtesy of Ben Welsh)
Foundational. That is the word Ben Welsh uses to describe his four years at
DePaul University. Now the 2004 graduate and current editor of the Data and
Graphics Department at the Los Angeles Times looks to give back to DePaul
journalism students.
Welsh becomes the second Fellow at DePaul's Center for Journalism
Integrity and Excellence. He joins Dan Sinker, a nationally recognized
author, publisher and entrepreneur, who returns for this third year as a
Center Fellow.
Welsh was a key part of an LA Times team covering a 2015 terrorist attack in
San Bernardino, California, which earned the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize. In
2017, the center honored him with the inaugural Distinguished Alumnus
award.
Together Sinker and Welsh provide DePaul journalism students with an
extraordinary portfolio. Sinker’s work is regularly published in The
Atlantic, Esquire magazine and The New York Times. In 2008, Sinker was a
John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. An original thinker, he has
helped form and inform DePaul journalism students in the use of social
media, data journalism and through his unique take on world events.
A native of Swisher, Iowa, Welsh co-founded the California Civic Data
Coalition to make public data more accessible. Prior to his position at the
Times, Welsh worked at the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C.
The Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence began in 2016. The
center brings nationally recognized journalists to DePaul to inspire and
prepare future reporters, writers, producers and photojournalists. Welsh
and Sinker will participate in the Advanced Reporting class taught each quarter.
Carol Marin and Don Moseley are co-directors of the Center for Journalism
Integrity and Excellence.