DEASIA PAIGE
Race + Culture Journalist
CONTACT
St. Louis, Missouri
EMAIL:
paige.deasia@gmail.com
WEBSITE:
deasiapaige.com
Muck Rack
OTHER
EXPERIENCE
The Project on the History
of Black Writing- Social
Media Manager
August 2018-May 2020
Boosted The Project on the
History of Black Writing’s
social media presence;
created user friendly
campaigns
Wake Up Call- Production
Assistant
Jan 2017-June 2017
I often directed, edited
broadcast scripts and ran
the teleprompter for the
weekly broadcast of a
show on my college
campus
University of Kansas
Emerging Scholars
Program- Research
Assistant
August 2016–May 2018
I looked through historical
documents on the NAACP
and various civil rights
leaders for my school’s
African and African-
American Studies
department
EDUCATION
University of Kansas
2016 – 2020
- Bachelor of Science in Journalism- News + Information Track
- Minor in African and African-American Studies
- Magna Cum Laude
- Kappa Tau Alpha Honor Society
- Diversity Committee Leader-Journalism Leadership Board
WORK EXPERIENCE
Belleville News-Democrat/Report for America - Black Communities Reporter
June 2020–Present
Cover Black communities in southwestern Illinois for the Belleville News-Democrat as a Report for
America fellow. Topics in my beat range from community reporting to covering local
government. I also lead my newsroom’s diversity initiatives to build trust with the areas in my
beat. For example, I host monthly listening sessions with Black people in our coverage area and
write a newsletter centered on Black communities
Freelance- Music and Culture Journalist
April 2017–Present
My freelance writing focuses on the intersection of race, culture and identity. My works has
been featured in outlets like Pitchfork, NPR, Teen Vogue and Bitch Media
The Nation- Vision 2020 Fellow
January 2020–June 2020
Fellowship program led by Dr. Sheri Williams of American University and The Nation that tasked
student journalists with highlighting perspectives of young voters for the 2020 presidential
election. My story focused on the concerns of young queer voters of color.
VICE- Culture Intern
June 2019–August 2019
Wrote listicles, interviewed artists and wrote breaking news stories related to music and pop
culture. For example, I interviewed one of the songwriters for Destiny’s Child’s sophomore album,
and the article was highlighted in the company’s newsletter.
Detroit Free Press- Breaking News Intern
May 2018–August 2018
Worked on the paper’s Freep Now breaking news team. Occasionally wrote enterprise stories
like the one I did on a Detroit program that helped formerly incarcerated women
The Nation- Black on Campus Fellow
May 2018–August 2018
Received training from Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry and Dr. Sheri Williams. Students were asked to
highlight the experiences of Black college students, and my story explored the lack of Black
women leaders on college campuses
University Daily Kansan- Arts & Culture Writer
August 2016–May 2020
Covered concerts and wrote features stories related to the cultural scene in Lawrence, KS