Chips Quinn Reporter Spotlight: Palak Jayswal
Posting: Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Palak Jayswal, Culture and Music Reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, has built a career telling stories that capture the essence of Utah’s communities. From music and literature to local traditions and immigrant experiences, Jayswal’s reporting focuses on the people and places that shape the state’s cultural identity.
Jayswal was born in Gujarat, India, and immigrated to the United States with her family as an infant. She has lived in Utah nearly her entire life, developing a deep connection to the state she now covers as a reporter. While her initial dream was to become an author, journalism found her by chance. A professor at the University of Utah encouraged her to apply to the student newspaper after reading her Harry Styles concert review for a class assignment. That encouragement set her on a path that has since defined her professional life.
Palak Jayswal
Chips Quinn Reporter
Though Jayswal values her formal education, she credits her time at the Daily Utah Chronicle, the University of Utah’s student newspaper, as the foundation of her journalism career. Professors like Kim Mangun and professional mentors she later met through programs such as Next Generation Radio, the Poynter-Koch Fellowship, and the National Critics Institute played pivotal roles in shaping her skills and confidence.
As a culture and music reporter, Jayswal often encounters puzzled looks when she describes her beat. To her, culture reporting is about documenting the people, organizations, events, and trends that make Utah unique. She has written about an immigrant swap meet, Utah’s fantasy literature scene, the state’s Japantown community, and most recently, the closing of a beloved roadside honky tonk. Each story reflects her belief that Utah’s culture is rich, diverse and worth documenting.
Pictured: Jayswal posed outside the Walker Center tower. Story: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2025/08/04/walker-center-tours-see-slcs/
Why Apply for the Chips Quinn Reporter Fellowship?
Jayswal applied to the Chips Quinn Fellowship as she works to refine her career goals, which include creating a newsletter or podcast and publishing a book. She sees the program as an opportunity to gain the tools and mentorship needed to advocate for these projects and to grow into the next stage of her career. Part of Jayswal’s motivation is to share what she learns with other young journalists of color. She views the fellowship as a chance not only to advance her own goals but also to create pathways for others to succeed in journalism.
Advice for Aspiring Journalists
Jayswal encourages aspiring journalists to embrace new opportunities: “Do not be afraid to say yes. Journalism is a place where you can never stop learning. Try new things, take the risk and if you fail, you’ll learn from it.”
Message from her Mentor
"Palak is a proactive, forward-thinking journalist who brings curiosity and drive to everything she does. She’s passionate about growing her skills and shaping her voice in step with the changes in our industry. It’s been such a joy to work alongside her—sharing experiences, trading ideas, and helping her build connections that support her goals.“
Kim Johnson Flodin
Deputy U.S. News Director, Initiatives and Partnerships
Started by Freedom Forum, the original Chips Quinn program helped put college interns into newsrooms across the country. Since its beginnings in 1991, the program has reached more than 1,400 people, many of whom are now in leadership positions for local and national newsrooms. Today, the program aims to offer support to early-career journalists already in their respective newsrooms through a 1:1 mentorship by leading members in the journalism field as well as alumni from the program. Thanks to continued support for the program from Freedom Forum, each Chips Quinn Reporter receives a $10,000 stipend..
About Freedom Forum: Established on July 4, 1991, by USA TODAY founder Al Neuharth, the Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to fostering First Amendment freedoms for all. As the nation’s foremost advocate for First Amendment freedoms, the Freedom Forum engages thousands of Americans each year in classes, conversations and celebrations of these essential rights, including through the Power Shift Project, the annual Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference, the Chips Quinn Scholars Program for Diversity in Journalism, the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media, the Free Expression Awards, the annual “Where America Stands” survey, the Journalists Memorial and Today’s Front Pages.
About JFP: The mission of Journalism Funding Partners is to strengthen the depth, diversity and sustainability of local news by building and shepherding relationships between funders and local news organizations. JFP is a recognized nonprofit that acts as fiscal sponsor, allowing foundations and individual funders to contribute directly to local news, regardless of the news organization’s business model. JFP manages the funds feeding numerous news initiatives, including more than a dozen Climate reporters in the Southeast, an Equity Desk at The Sacramento Bee, an Education and Economic Mobility Desk in California’s Central Valley, the Investigative Fund of The Miami Herald and for Inclusivity and Investigative funds at the Associated Press.
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Media Contact: Rusty Coats, Executive Director | rusty@jfp-local.org | (813) 277-8959
