JOUR200B | Fall 2022

Follow University of Nebraska Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications professor Chris Graves as she covers a mass murder trial in Pike County, Ohio

Rhoden family killings: George Wagner sentenced to life in prison without parole; vows to appeal

WAVERLY, Ohio — George Washington Wagner IV, one of the people at the center of eight coldblooded killings that devastated a southern...

This just in: When criminal trial = political appointment

You should recognize this name in this press release. Andy Wilson was one of the prosecutors in the George Wagner IV trial. Ohio Gov....

Rhoden family murders: George Wagner IV case reporting next steps

Often for journalists, when a major trial —or any major event — concludes our work continues and sometimes even intensifies. Coming up in...

ABOUT ME

I am an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications, teaching reporting and writing and solutions reporting. My research focus is on crime and justice reporting, trauma in journalism and the art of the empathetic interview. As a journalist for 35 years, I have covered politics and potlucks, serial killers and killer storms. I have spent my career documenting human suffering and the human spirit. A word editor and a newsroom manager, I helped traditional newsrooms "go digital' in the early days and I continue to be energized by the future of local news and how technologies can deliver news to various audiences. I have worked as a reporter, assistant city editor and managing editor and newspaper columnist. I have worked in print, TV and public radio newsrooms. Follow along as I write about the mass murder trial of the Rhoden family in Pike County, Ohio.

Learn More