Nina Baker
BOYD’S STATION Mary Withers FELLOW - 2024 | Grinnell College
Nina Baker
Nina Baker, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Russian from Grinnell College, was awarded the Mary Withers Rural Writing Fellowship at Boyd’s Station in 2024.
After living in small towns in Minnesota and Iowa, Nina was eager to report on the issues affecting Harrison County, Kentucky. “I care deeply about rural reporting because I've witnessed firsthand the profound ways that local journalism transforms our understanding of our communities, neighbors, and ourselves,” she wrote in her application. And she did just that throughout the summer.
Nina dove into articles that explore Kentuckians’ fascination with (and dependence on) weight loss drugs, the troubling conditions inside the state’s personal care homes, and one woman’s quest to restore a Cynthiana home originally built in 1812. “My tenacity for journalism originates from my belief that journalism can make our world better, and that conviction empowers me through the discomfort and difficulty often present in reporting,” she wrote.
