Wendi C. Thomas is an

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

and the founder of MLK50, a nonprofit digital newsroom with the goal of reporting on economic justice.

Education

Thomas graduated from

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

with a degree in journalism in 1993.

Career

Thomas worked for

the Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

as a columnist from 2003 to 2014. In 2016, she was selected for the 2016 Class of the

Nieman Fellowship The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists A Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 2017, Thomas founded MLK50: Justice Through Journalism to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the

assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7 ...

In 2020, Thomas won the

Selden Ring Award The Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, given by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, ...

and the

Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...

for local reporting for her reporting on predatory

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

practices in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Lawsuits

Wendi C. Thomas was involved in a 2018 federal police surveillance trial, where the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

sued

Memphis Police Department The Memphis Police Department is the law enforcement agency of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Organization The Memphis Police Department (MPD) provides police services to the people of the city of Memphis in a 304 square-mile are ...

for violating a 1978 decree preventing them from surveilling on citizens for political purposes. A white police officer in the trial admitted to posing as a person of color on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and following

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

related groups and people to get intel on the movement, also admitting that Thomas was one of the people he followed. In 2020, Thomas sued the city of Memphis for not including her in the city's media advisory list. Her lawyer claimed that it was unconstitutional for her to not be included and that they didn't include her because they " id notlike the content of her reporting".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Wendi C. American women journalists Butler University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Gerald Loeb Award winners for Local 21st-century American women