COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Religion News Foundation (“RNF”) is pleased to announce that Kelsey Dallas, the national religion reporter for Salt Lake City-based Deseret News, has become the editor of ReligionLink, a resource guide for religion journalists. She will remain a full-time reporter at Deseret News.
“Kelsey is a first-rate journalist and very committed to making ReligionLink a more valuable educational and resource tool for religion journalists,” said Tom Gallagher, President and CEO, Religion News Foundation, and CEO and Publisher of the foundation’s subsidiary, Religion News Service. “We’re delighted that she’s taking on this role,” he said.
“I love covering religion news, and I’m excited to help other reporters do the same with ReligionLink,” said Dallas.
Kelsey is a 2012 graduate of the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts with highest distinction in English, Economics and Religious Studies. In 2014, Kelsey graduated from Yale University with a Master of Arts in Religion. While at Yale, Kelsey served as a staff writer for different campus publications. She was also the Director of Communications for the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. Kelsey is an active member of the Religion News Association (RNA).
The Religion News Foundation is also pleased to announce that Emily Churchill has joined the foundation to assist on, among other things, development and outreach initiatives.
“Emily is passionate about religion journalism and will immediately contribute to the vital work of Religion News Foundation,” said Gallagher. She will be based in New York City.
Emily graduated last month from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences with a Master of Arts in Religion with specialty on South Asian religions. She specialized in the advanced study of Hindi and Urdu under a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, where her Master’s project involved the analysis of Hindu iconography utilized in modern progressive social movements with particular emphasis on comics and the interaction of media and faith.
A year ago, Emily graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with a Master of Science in Journalism. She traveled to India on a Scripps Howard grant and a President’s Global Innovation Fund grant to report on religion, media, politics, and social movements. Her Master’s project covered the ongoing efforts by the Sikh community in the U.S. to counter discrimination and fight misidentification. In 2017, Emily received the Campbell Award by Columbia University, which is awarded to one graduating student in each of Columbia’s colleges that has demonstrated leadership and Columbia spirit.
In 2015, Emily received a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Religious Studies (Distinguished Major) and Foreign Affairs and a minor in English from the University of Virginia.
Emily served as the RNA student leader while at Columbia University.
“It is gratifying to see the president of RNA’s Columbia student chapter be given the opportunity to grow her career with the Religion News Foundation,” said Tiffany McCallen, RNA Chief Operations Officer. “During her tenure at Columbia, Emily was an organizational force, helping to champion a number of student chapter events and networking opportunities — all while honing her skills as a religion reporter. I look forward to her contributions to the foundation staff.”
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About Religion News Foundation
Religion News Foundation is a secular educational and charitable 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization located at the Columbia, Mo.-based University of Missouri School of Journalism. RNF advances religious literacy through websites, resources, videos, podcasts, networks, training workshops, events and other programs tailor-made for media professionals, corporate clients and the general public. RNF facilitates and encourages discourse about religion in a neutral and informative way without endorsing or promoting any particular belief system or point of view. RNF is the parent of Religion News Service, LLC, an independent nonprofit journalism organization that covers religion, spirituality, ethics and culture. For more information go to http://religion.news/.
