CHICAGO, September 24, 2018 — Andrew Soergel, an award-winning journalist for U.S. News and World Report, has been named the recipient of the 2018-19 Economics of Aging and Work Fellowship awarded by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The 10-month residential fellowship will provide Soergel with in-depth training and skill development in the field of data journalism. He will work with world-class research scientists, economists, and other experts to develop the economic and analytical skills needed to create research-based enterprise journalism dealing with the economics of the aging workforce in the United States. His articles will be distributed by AP to its global worldwide audience across all media platforms. In addition, he will participate in The AP-NORC Center’s ongoing Working Longer survey research project.

Soergel is the fourth recipient of the Economics of Aging and Work Fellowship, which receives principal funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

“The Economics of Aging and Work Fellowship will provide Andrew with a superb opportunity to bring a data-driven approach to reporting that will illuminate this important issue,” said Trevor Tompson, vice president for Public Affairs Research at NORC. “We have designed the program to give our journalist fellows time to explore this important issue in great depth while also teaching them new analytic skills that they can use throughout their future careers.”

Soergel is a senior reporter for U.S. News and World Report, where he focuses on coverage of business, technology, and economics. He was named a 2017 Aging Issues Fellow of the National Press Foundation and that same year was named a Goldschmidt Fellow by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. He was twice named a finalist for the Mark of Excellence Awards of the Society of Professional Journalists.

“I believe that one of the most important new directions for journalism is the application of data-driven approaches to story development,” said Soergel. “The opportunity to learn these skills at one of the national centers of data journalism and to develop stories that will have international distribution by AP is an enormous opportunity, and I am grateful for it.”

He was selected for the fellowship after a national competition open to reporters with at least five years’ experience and a demonstrated interest in research-based reporting on issues related to the economics of America’s aging workforce.

The fellowship has two main components:

  • About 40 percent of the fellow’s time is devoted to training and skill development mentored by a University of Chicago faculty member, including formal and informal training in econometric and other social science research methods and their application in data-driven journalism.
  • About 60 percent of the fellowship is spent on in-depth reporting projects, working one-on-one with an AP editor on stories relating to the economics of aging and work in the United States.

The position is located in Chicago and includes a salary and benefits. Soergel will be on leave from U.S. News and World Report while engaged in the AP-NORC Fellowship.

Soergel is a graduate of Washington & Lee University where he majored in business journalism.