Miami and the entire southeast coast of Florida are famous for tourism, expansive beaches lined with condominium complexes, diverse cultures and a vibrant nightlife. The region also is home to countless hot topics, including politics, migration issues, crime, environmental destruction and hurricane hazards.
That means that there is no shortage of story material for journalists like Miami Herald investigative reporter Sarah Blaskey. She spent the last six years at the Herald writing about vice, corruption, immigration and politics. She is, to say the least, passionate about finding facts, confirming accuracy, and helping people understand their world.
“I have been talking about the importance of journalism since I was 19 and working at my school paper in Madison, Wisconsin. It is an exciting field and with a job in journalism, every day offers a unique challenge. Young people need to know that journalism is more important now than ever. It is not dying, but instead changing, with constant innovation that creates a lot of opportunity for young people,” Blaskey said.
Within just a few years after college, Blaskey’s reporting earned numerous high profile national awards for investigative, political and feature reporting. She also was lead author of the book, “The Grifter’s Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency,” released in August 2020.
A discussion with Pulitzer-winner Sarah Blaskey | Wednesday, Feb. 28
The Miami Herald’s Sarah Blaskey will speak at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the Behavioral Sciences Building, Room 103. Her talk is open to the university community.
Blaskey’s connection to CSU resulted from her coverage of the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Florida. A team from the Herald followed the story from the morning happened, and Blaskey led the team’s investigative coverage. As a result, she met Journalism and Media Communication alumnus Mike Stratton.
Stratton is a native of Durango, Colorado, who attended CSU from 1973-77. He is former ASCSU student body president, an inaugural member of the CSU Media Hall of Fame, a long-time supporter of the JMC Department and a sought-after political strategist. For decades he has been a national leader in the Democratic party. His long list of accomplishments includes key roles in dozens of presidential, legislative and gubernatorial campaigns, as well as national leadership positions in the Carter and Clinton administrations.
Tragically, Stratton’s wife Cassie was one of 98 residents who died when Champlain Towers condominium collapsed in 2021. He was on the phone with Cassie when the structure of the building’s foundation began to disintegrate, so he was personally drawn into Blaskey’s reporting. After many months of investigations and news coverage, Stratton developed a deep appreciation of Blaskey’s passion for finding the truth.
As a CSU JMC alumnus who understands the need for that sort of journalistic passion, Stratton in 2023 donated $200,000 to create a CSU scholarship endowment.
The fund is focused on creating a scholarship pathway between Durango and CSU. Funds will be directed to Durango area high school students who want to pursue CSU degrees in Journalism and Media Communication.
Once the scholarship was created, Stratton began connecting community leaders in Durango with CSU. He recognized that Blaskey, who was just 31 years old when she won the Pulitzer Prize, would be an outstanding role model for students interested in journalism, so he invited her to speak both at CSU and Durango High School.
“From my point of view, the purpose of this visit is to get young people involved and active in journalism. I’m especially interested in seeing that happen in Durango and at CSU,” Stratton explained. “Getting to know Sarah as she worked on the Surfside story, then seeing her win a Pulitzer Prize at the age of 31 demonstrated to me that she has unlimited potential both as a journalist and as an advocate for the profession.”
Journalism and Media Communication faculty are looking forward to what they believe is critical link to CSU’s thematic year of Democracy and Civic Engagement.
“We believe that there is nothing more important to democracy than the journalistic process and open dialogue that is protected by the First Amendment,” said Marilee Long, chair of JMC. “This visit is an outstanding opportunity for our students to make that connection.”
“With a Pulitzer Prize, a Polk Award and Webby awards, Blaskey is one of the important journalists of her generation,” said Assistant Professor Mike Humphrey. “She has done it by blending old fashioned, fearless investigative reporting with storytelling that shows the human cost when powerful people and institutions become corrupt or negligent, or both.”
