Get to know Ashley Luthern, investigative reporter and deputy editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It might be a tip about a nearby shooting, a source who wants to talk about a sensitive court case, or a whistleblower reporting a miscarriage of justice. Whenever news happens, people go to Luthern.
The Ohio native has been covering criminal justice for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 2013, telling difficult and illuminating stories about gun violence, domestic violence, human trafficking and more. Most recently, in her ongoing investigative series 'Duty to Disclose,' Luthern is revealing gaps in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's system for tracking police with credibility concerns.
Get to know more more about investigative reporter and deputy investigations editor Ashley Luthern:
I've always wanted to be a journalist, which I trace to my love of reading, writing, learning and helping others. My first published piece was in 6th grade when I interviewed a student-teacher for my elementary school newsletter.
I later worked at my high school newspaper and then my college paper, The Post, at Ohio University. After college, I worked at The Vindicator, my hometown newspaper in Youngstown, Ohio, where I covered local government, crime, business, schools and features.
Then, I applied to be a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, got the job and have been here ever since.
I started focusing on domestic violence for two reasons: It appeared to be driving a growing share of shootings and homicides in Milwaukee and it is one of the most preventable types of lethal violence.
One of the most harmful tropes about domestic violence is the tendency to blame the victim and ask, why didn't she just leave? To someone outside the situation, leaving seems the safest option. For those in an abusive relationship, it often is not. In my reporting, I've tried to uplift the voices of survivors so readers can understand their perspectives and the choices they make to keep themselves, and often their children, safe.
As far as covering criminal justice overall, I wish everyone could observe a sentencing hearing. It's the one time in the system when a victim, or their loved ones, can express their feelings about what happened, and it's often the first time when a defendant can share what led them to this point. Those hearings, while heavy, are full of humanity. People say surprising, revealing things. They express deep sorrow or anger. They ask for forgiveness. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they don't.
It's easy as journalists to frame things as a binary: good and bad, black and white, right and wrong. Rarely are things that simple. Life is messy. People are complicated — and resilient.
First, to anyone who has ever shared their time and story with me, thank you. Truly.
I hesitate to name specific stories because so many stick with me, more than I can say here.
The basketball coach who led his team of middle-school boys into a new season after the fatal shooting of a teammate. The funeral director who carefully tended to homicide victims and their families. The surgeon who can save a life but wants her patients not to be shot in the first place. The Milwaukee police detective whose sister died from domestic violence. The woman who fought for justice after her sister was murdered by her abuser.
Early in my time in Milwaukee, I covered the shooting deaths of three children: 10-year-old Sierra Guyton, 5-year-old Laylah Petersen, and 13-month-old Bill Thao. Each was killed by random gunfire in a place they were supposed to be safe. I will never forget their stories.
I'm not sure if this is the weirdest thing, but it certainly was memorable.
At The Vindicator, someone called the newsroom and claimed to have found a tooth in a pre-packaged hamburger bun from a regional bread company.
The managing editor at the time told me to go check it out. So I did, and I went to this man's house and he showed me a molar that seemed way too large to have been found in a sandwich bun.
I called the bread company and spoke to an owner who explained the breadmaking process and how it would be pretty much impossible for a molar that size to end up in a sandwich bun. (I did not write a story.)
Ashley Luthern is an investigative reporter and deputy investigations editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at ashley.luthern@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Q&A: Get to know Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Ashley Luthern
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