It’s 9:30 a.m. on a weekday when Sebastian Fraccari walks into his studio broadcast journalism class at Hunter College—groggy and expecting a typical lesson. Instead, Professor Sissel McCarthy approaches him with unexpected news: he is this year’s recipient of the Jack Newfield Investigative Journalism Scholarship.
“I was frankly flabbergasted,” Fraccari said.
Fraccari, who has experience in both written and broadcast media, believes his diverse background may have helped him secure the award. His reporting spans a wide range of topics, including teacher profiles, CUNY education funding, student reflections on the 2024 election, and a proposed Brooklyn-to-Queens transit line. He has also covered journalism events and internship opportunities at Hunter.
Fraccari’s work appears across several school-run platforms, including The Athenian, the Hunter Journalism Newsletter, and the Hunter News Now YouTube channel, where he produces and edits news segments for class.
As an active member of the journalism department, Fraccari contributes to both his social justice and studio broadcast news courses. He credits his Social Justice professor, Eric Umansky—who was involved in the nomination process—as another reason for receiving the scholarship.
Unlike many aspiring journalists, Fraccari didn’t begin his path early. His passion for writing was sparked his sophomore year through reviewing albums. “I was like, maybe I could continue doing this, maybe for a more professional setting,” he said.
His interest in investigative journalism began more recently, after enrolling in the social justice course two months ago. Since then, he’s found the field “enticing, a little scary, but interesting.”
Deeply engaged in Hunter life, Fraccari is preparing for a two-camera interview with Hunter College President Nancy Cantor on Monday, April 21, for the Hunter News Now final broadcast. He’s also experimenting with a multimedia side project, a video and audio show called Triple Threat, as well as starting his final project for his Entertainment Journalism class.
Since receiving the scholarship, Fraccari has thought of combining investigative reporting with visual storytelling.
“Although the scholarship is more oriented toward written journalism, I don’t see why I can’t continue such a legacy with a different medium—or by merging mediums,” he said. “Because I also believe that those mediums are going to be the future—and already are the future.”
