Barnett is a staff reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. In this spotlight, she reflects on the first year of her journalism career, how her Brown history education continues to shape her reporting, and the advice she would offer to current students in the department. 

"Since graduating from Brown in 2025, I’ve been a reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune in Minneapolis. I joined the newsroom as a public safety intern last June and, on my first day, found myself helping cover the assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman.

Over the following year, I reported on breaking news, public safety and immigration. In August 2025, I was the first reporter on the scene of the Annunciation school shooting in Minneapolis. Our coverage of the shooting was awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting. Reporting on the aftermath introduced me to students, parents and educators who entrusted me with deeply personal stories about grief, resilience and healing. Their willingness to share those experiences remains one of the greatest privileges of my career and continues to shape how I think about journalism and the responsibility that comes with telling other people’s stories.

In early 2026, I was one of five reporters assigned to cover Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale federal immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. My reporting took me from ICE operations and protests to federal court proceedings and civil rights challenges. I covered the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents, as well as the broader legal, political and human consequences of the enforcement effort across Minnesota.

Last year, I also traveled to Sierra Leone and Liberia with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, reporting on girls’ education, public health and foreign aid.

My time in Brown’s history department continues to shape the way I report. Studying history taught me to think critically about evidence, question conventional narratives and understand how individual lives intersect with larger political and social forces. 

A note to current students: actively seek out opportunities—don’t wait for them to find you. Apply for the job, send the email, ask for the meeting and pitch the story. Some of the most meaningful experiences of my career began with an earnest question. You never know what’s available to you until you try."