Damakant Jayshi covers Hmong and other immigrants from Southeast Asia for Wisconsin’s Wausau Pilot & Review, a nonprofit digital news organization with a focus on government accountability. This self-described accidental journalist is passionate about journalism’s watchdog role, and feels there’s a lot of opportunity for nuanced coverage of immigrants and refugees. As a reporter and an editor for two national dailies in Nepal, The Kathmandu Post and MyRepublica, a site he helped launch, and as special correspondent for The Hindu, a paper in India, Damakant has covered earthquakes, unequal citizenship for women in Nepal, human rights, insurgency, refugees, politics, parliament, foreign affairs and civil aviation. He is the founder of South Asia Check, a fact-checking news site that promotes transparency and accountability in politics and media. Jayshi is a 2007 Nieman fellow.
Beat: Marathon County's Hmong community
This reporter covers Hmong and other immigrants from Southeast Asia living in Marathon County, many of whom do not speak English. The reporting is translated to the Hmong language to help ensure these residents have access to critical government and other information.