Sahan Journal’s past and present came together on Tuesday, May 19, at an awards ceremony in New York as Editorial Director Chao Xiong accepted the Columbia Journalism Award with founder Mukhtar Ibrahim and current Executive Director Vanan Murugesan in the audience.
The annual national award honors reporting that informs, serves communities and advances the highest standards of the profession. Sahan Journal is only the third news outlet or program to receive the award in its almost seven-decade history.
In his speech, Xiong highlighted the work Sahan has done to build a newsroom that reflects Minnesota’s diverse communities and the ability that gave a small nonprofit newsroom to cover a national story during the federal immigration crackdown Operation Metro Surge.
He also thanked Minnesotans who shared their stories, even when the stakes were high.
“The first few months of this year show just how vital a robust independent media is to our democracy, and how much we need all of you right now,” he said.
He was one of several speakers at the Columbia Journalism School’s annual commencement who made the case for the urgency of journalism at a difficult moment.
Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb reminded the graduating students of the headwinds they face as they launch their careers.
“Not only do we confront the ongoing challenges of the business model and technological disruptions represented by AI and the low levels of trust from the public, but we face a great deal of hostility as well.”
Cobb cited the cases of independent journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon, who were arrested after covering a church protest in St. Paul aimed at a local ICE official during Operation Metro Surge.
The ceremony also featured Pulitzer Prize winner Julie K. Brown, the 2020 Columbia Journalism Award recipient, who has extensively covered the Jeffrey Epstein story. Brown received a special citation Pulitzer this year for her “groundbreaking reporting” on Epstein for the Miami Herald in 2017 and 2018.
Brown said in her speech that it was a “miracle” that she was standing in front of the graduates, because of the many obstacles she faced on her nontraditional path. Brown spoke about raising children as a single mother, and being told repeatedly that she couldn’t accomplish her goals.
But Brown said journalism gave her a sense of purpose, especially covering marginalized communities, and that she became “relentless.”
Brown decided to reexamine the Epstein case in 2016, and was told it wasn’t a story anymore and had nothing new to uncover.
“But to me, the stories that were written over the years about Epstein never explained how and why he was able to get away with his sex crimes and harm so many young girls with impunity,” Brown said.
She told graduates it was an “obstacle” convincing her editor to let her pursue the story, and to convince victims to share their stories.
“I wasn’t afraid of Epstein or his high-powered lawyers, because by then I had faced so many obstacles in my life and career that I was determined to take a fresh look at this story,” she said. “I envisioned myself as a cold case detective and pulled every record.”
Epstein was arrested eight months after Brown’s stories were published.
Brown revealed that she later learned that Epstein referenced her investigation in an email to his attorneys: “She is going to start trouble.”
“So let that be my last words to you: Get out there and start some trouble!” she told graduates.
Building a diverse newsroom
Xiong highlighted the often invisible work of building sources, following tips, holding government agencies and officials accountable that is key to the practice of journalism.
“Only when you’ve built the habit of showing up in those quiet moments will you be positioned to see faults in the system, identify abuses of power and earn the trust of sources whose stories are capable of cracking the universe open,” he told Columbia’s graduating class.
One of Sahan’s most-read stories of 2025 came from a tip following reporting by immigration reporter Katelyn Vue, who had been following stories of Hmong men targeted by the U.S. government for deportation to Laos over crimes committed years earlier.
A reader saw one of Vue’s stories and read it to her husband, who was in jail awaiting deportation. He shared his story, along with Ring doorbell video showing ICE agents persuading his young son to open the door — a story that “show[ed] the world how our government was tearing families apart.”
Xiong also pointed to the contributions of two Columbia graduates in the newsroom’s immigration coverage.
Sahan data reporter Cynthia Tu and reporter Shubhanjana Das brought firsthand experience to stories about a crackdown on international students, some of the first targets of immigration enforcement following President Donald Trump’s reelection.
“We’re building a newsroom at Sahan Journal that reflects Minnesota’s diverse communities, which positioned us to respond to the recent federal immigration operation,” Xiong said.
The future of journalism
As the news media ecosystem undergoes rapid change, and social platforms democratize who can create content, Xiong reminded graduates that audiences are still hungry for compelling content.
“This is not the time to wring your hands. It’s time to innovate and lead. Don’t fret about whether video will eclipse the written word. The art of storytelling has persisted for millennia, and it will continue to persist in spite of the latest digital trend.
“Your words will find their place,” he said.
