Jessica Calefati

Education investigative reporter for The Baltimore Banner. Politico, Inquirer, CalMatters, Mercury News, Star-Ledger alum. Proud NJ native. Yoga teacher.

[Jessica Calefati @Calefati]

Government without newspapers or newspapers without government? I should not hesitate a moment to choose the latter.

[Jessica Calefati @Calefati]

💐 Give Glen Burnie High its flowers. The school’s graduation rate jumped 7% in one year, more than any other large high school in Maryland. What’s their secret? I spent time with their dedicated school staff to find out. @BaltimoreBanner https://t.co/zTwKVn3kSX

[Ky Carlin @Ky_Carlin]

This is an insane stat. Hart really does whatever it takes to win games.

[Rit Holtzman @BenRitholtzNBA]

The Knicks should get to the NBA Finals more often this is SO SICK.

[Dylan Byers @DylanByers]

New statement from Scott Pelley:

There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to countless millions around the world. This spring, at the end of our 58thseason, 60 Minutes grew rapidly with an unheard-of 9% jump in viewers on CBS.

“60” has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.

The waste is heartbreaking.

Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.

For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.

At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to “keep up the good fight.” Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.

I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.

Scott Pelley

[Ellie Wolfe @elliew0lfe]

One senior administrator shared in a presentation that Bowie State University sent 2,800 students to debt collection last year. That's almost 45% of the university's student body.

[Justin Fenton @justin_fenton]

Thread 🧵: The @OIG_Baltimore released a report this week about Baltimore paying city employees more than $312,000 for hours that were largely unworked as part of their separation from City Hall. These are public employees paid with taxpayer dollars. All public.

[Justin Fenton @justin_fenton]

So thrilled for our whole @BaltimoreBanner team to be recognized by the Pulitzer Prizes for a *second year in a row* but especially @lizbowie who helped create this place and is the heart and soul of the Banner!

[Justin Fenton @justin_fenton]

Today!

[Jessica Calefati @Calefati]

@McDanielJustine @latimes Congrats, Justine!

[Justin Fenton @justin_fenton]

New: Baltimore Police arrested the relative they said helped 9-year-old Tristan King evade detectives and federal agents for nearly six months after the formerly-missing boy ran from a case worker. W @LeeOSanderlin & @Calefati https://t.co/w4XB68uwRd

[Jessica Gallagher @JessMGallagher]

Read about Tristan King here https://t.co/5qmSwdYolt

[Lee Sanderlin @LeeOSanderlin]

Gov. Moore on news Tristan King has been found:
"We owe Tristan action, not excuses, and we will keep working to make sure no child falls through the cracks like this again."

[Alex Mann @alex_mann10]

Authorities found Baltimore's missing boy, Tristan King, report @LeeOSanderlin, @Calefati and @JessMGallagher for @baltimorebanner: https://t.co/kp93itsMiq

[The Baltimore Banner @BaltimoreBanner]

BREAKING: The nearly six-month search for Tristan King came to an end Friday morning in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood, according to his family’s attorney and several people familiar with his case.

The United States Marshals Service found the 9-year-old boy at a run-down house on Filbert Street, not two miles from where he first went missing last September.
https://t.co/o3ibsYgzaX

[Lee Sanderlin @LeeOSanderlin]

This is Tristan. He's 9 and he's been missing longer than any kid his age in Maryland. The people and systems meant to help him didn't. Red tape and mistakes have hampered the search for him. Will anyone find him?

w/ @Calefati and @JessMGallagher
https://t.co/dlNG4j7nIg

[Tim Prudente @Tim_Prudente]

He's on the streets of Baltimore without a guardian, home or even a school. Everyone knows. Yet for all our resources, cops, social workers, drones, we have failed to bring Tristan to safety. A wrenching story by @Calefati @LeeOSanderlin @JessMGallagher: https://t.co/QMc2QXKUZm

[Dylan Segelbaum @Dylan_Segelbaum]

By @Calefati, @LeeOSanderlin and @JessMGallagher: Everyone has seen Baltimore’s missing boy. So why can’t authorities find him? https://t.co/Z9pKCxevBM (via @BaltimoreBanner)

[Pamela Wood @pwoodreporter]

A cascading series of incidents left 9-year-old Tristan King homeless and dodging help. His case was compounded by slow responses and missteps by officials.

Will he be found?

A heart-wrenching story from @LeeOSanderlin, @Calefati & @JessMGallagher:

https://t.co/pHHmLgxauP

[Jessica Calefati @Calefati]

Three months ago, we got a tip about a 9-year-old boy missing in Baltimore.

He’s been gone longer than any child his age in Maryland.

Why can’t anyone find him?

This is the story of Tristan King.

w/ @LeeOSanderlin @JessMGallagher for @BaltimoreBanner

https://t.co/XgkMvIdiMN

[Pat Forde @ByPatForde]

Speaking of Olympic wraps, gold medals to @barrysvrluga, @RickMaese and @Lescarpenter for their coverage, supported by editor @JasonMurray117. What examples of professionalism, pride in the work, service to consumers and finishing a job right, regardless of circumstances