Chris Young
Journalist & Teacher
Chris Young is a freelance journalist and adjunct journalism instructor at American University in Washington, D.C. He also advises AU's nine student media organizations, including the newspaper, TV station and radio station.
Chris started his journalism career in Pittsburgh, covering everything from education and politics to neighborhoods and law enforcement for Pittsburgh City Paper, the Steel City's alternative-weekly newspaper. During his final year in Pittsburgh, he taught an intro-level journalism course for two semesters at his alma mater, Duquesne University.
In 2012, while earning his master's degree in journalism and public affairs from American University, Chris began working at the Center for Public Integrity. He spent three years at the D.C.-based investigative news organization, and his work for the nonprofit was published by NPR, Slate and NBC News, as well as dozens of other news organizations across the country.
Chris left D.C. in 2015 to become a reporter for inewsource, a San Diego-based nonprofit investigative news organization affiliated with KPBS, the city's public radio and television station. At inewsource, he produced investigative stories for the web, radio and television.
After spending nearly 10 years as a full-time reporter, Chris returned to academia in the fall of 2016 to pursue his passion for working with student journalists.
Chris has earned many awards for his journalism. In May 2018, he was named as a finalist for a prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists by the University of Michigan for a three-part investigation he co-reported for the Center for Public Integrity.
A self-proclaimed journalism history nerd, Chris occasionally spends his free time scanning newspapers from the late 1800s and early 1900s for his blog, The Archives, which has been featured on Jim Romenesko's popular media blog.
(Photo by Megan Wood)