About Capital News Service

Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Since 1990, we have provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues of import to Marylanders.

With bureaus in College Park, Annapolis and Washington run by professional journalists with decades of experience, we deliver news in multiple formats via partner news organizations, a destination website, an on-air television newscast, a weekly newsletter and affiliated social media platforms (including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and others).

We provide breaking news coverage, in-depth investigative and enterprise journalism — often in partnership with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism — and serve as a laboratory for students to test and develop innovative new methods of reporting and telling stories.

By providing a true newsroom experience to our students, we send them into the job market with real-world skills and the ability to shape the future of journalism.

Only Merrill’s most motivated students are accepted into the Capital News Service program, and they go on to land internships and jobs at the nation’s finest news organizations: The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, the Associated Press, Politico, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, ProPublica, National Geographic, NBC News, The Dallas Morning News, the Washington City Paper, Washingtonian magazine, Money magazine, the Wall Street Journal and more.

Contact us

Marty Kaiser
Managing Director, Capital News Service
301-405-2428
wmkaiser@umd.edu

Kathy Best
Director, Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
301-405-8808
klbest@umd.edu

James Carroll
Director, Capital News Service Washington, D.C., Bureau
301-314-1930
carrollj@umd.edu

Christi Parsons
Director, Capital News Service Annapolis Bureau
cparson1@umd.edu

Mark Hyman
Director, The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism
301-405-0441
mhyman1@umd.edu

Adam Marton
Director, Capital News Service Data Lab Bureau
301-405-2413
amarton@umd.edu

Stacey Decker
Director, Capital News Service Audience Engagement Bureau
srdecker@umd.edu

Mel Coffee
Director, Broadcast Bureau
301-405-7526
mcoffee@umd.edu

Partners

Capital News Service is proud to partner with Parse.ly to teach students to make effective use of audience analytics data. Read more about Parse.ly’s University Partnership program.