People
There are many people who make A Journey through NYC religions possible. Here are a few of them!
Tony Carnes is Editor and Publisher of A Journey through NYC religions.
editor@nycreligion.info
In the course of reporting on religious responses on the Gulf Coast after Katrina, Carnes photographed wrapped bodies lying before the chapel altar and elsewhere at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans. One photo appeared on the front page of the New York Times. The photos were later used in the ProPublica/New York Times Magazine investigative story “The Deadly Choices at Memorial,” for which Sheri Fink won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism. It was also the first Pulitzer Prize given to an online media publication. The story won a National Magazine award from the National Magazine Award and a Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Chi award. Carnes wondered if the the ProPublica model of web investigative journalism could be applied to religion reporting in New York City.
He has produced a documentary on Jacob Riis, his personal hero among NYC journalists. He is author of New York Glory: religions in the city (edited with Anna Karpathakis) and Asian American Religions: the making and remaking of borders and boundaries (edited with Fenggang Yang), both published by New York University Press.
He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Online News Association, Religion Newswriters Association, the Deadline Club and the Society for the Social Scientific Study of Religion. He is also a Senior Writer for Christianity Today for which he has produced award-winning, influential stories.
Melissa Kimiadi is a foreign correspondent for A Journey through NYC religions.
melissa@nycreligion.info
She was born in Indonesia and has lived in New York City since the age of 3 and considers the city her home. Her experience of growing up in the city has influenced her graduate work, which concerns cultural memory in NYC's thriving Indonesian community. She is studying cultural anthropology at Hunter College.
Although Melissa was raised in a Catholic faith, she was surrounded by people of Islamic, Christian, and Buddhist faiths growing up, most of whom were friends of the family and extended relatives. At the age of 14, her parents encouraged her to find a faith that was most compatible with her heart. After what had seemed like an endless search, Melissa decided she would like to practice the universal faith of kindness and openness. To Melissa, the religious essence is the search for meaning in human existence. Melissa hopes it is through this essence that religion can help bridge differences in communities and emphasize unity in diversity among all humans.
In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering, visiting museums, live music, food explorations, nature and meaningful connections with people. Working on this project allows Melissa to share, explore, discover, investigate, analyze, and fall in love with her beloved city all over again.
Debbie Yeung is a reporter for A Journey through NYC religions.
nycreligion@live.com
Hi! Let me introduce myself. My name is Debbie. I do "Kitchens of Faith" and write entries that recount my experiences conducting telephone interviews for A Journey through NYC religions.
I grew up in New York City as an “ABC” (American-Born Chinese) in an immigrant family living in the upper west side and later living in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Queens. We spent our summers up in the Catskills. My dad is a master pastelist, and my mom is a homemaker. I became a Christian when I was a teenager at a Dutch reformed church. I studied Marketing at New York University and worked in advertising for several years. I love cooking, jazz music, meeting people, museums, and travelling.
More recently, I have been raising a family with my husband and doing publicity work. I was looking for an outlet for my interviewing skills and joined the A Journey team over a year ago. The interviews often result in deeply meaningful and thought-provoking experiences for me, and I want to share some of the richness of that experience with you. Most of our work results in objective reporting, but my entries will give a better glimpse into the personal aspects of this project.
Christopher Smith is a reporter and leads Journey Workshops for A Journey through NYC religions.
chris@nycreligion.info
He does field reporting, breaking news, and leads Journey Workshops.
He is studying at New York Theological Seminary and comes with a finance background.
Maria Karlya is a reporter for A Journey through NYC religions.
On top of the world in New York City.
Garrett Kling is an intern at A Journey through NYC religions.
zgkling@tiu.edu
Previously, he went on A Journey while studying journalism in New York City. He says, "I fell in love with the city that always has a story waiting to be told." He was also editor of the Trinity Digest, the official newspaper publication of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. He has written for the Pioneer Press, The WJI Times Observer, and Trinity Magazine.
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Links to all contributors to A Journey through NYC religions:
