Rylee Kirk

I am an award-winning journalist currently working for The New York Times on the Express Desk as a member of the 2025-2026 fellowship class.

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No two days on the Express Desk are the same. One day you're learning about goldfish and the next you're profiling the campers lost in the Texas floods. Many days I chase down the initial confirmation of large breaking news stories such as the Louisville plane crash or Brown University shooting.

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When news isn't breaking I cover quirky stories including lost monkeys and shipwrecks. I also get to write bigger enterprise pieces, such as a man carrying shelter dogs around New York City to get them adopted.

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Before working for The Times I was a breaking news and public safety reporter for Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

 

In Syracuse, I would​ listen to the police scanner while writing profiles of the latest homicide victim, covering press conferences, examining possible police brutality and digging into local records. 

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At times I was able to flex my investigative muscles. Numerous of my investigations have revealed child protective service workers failing to intervene in neglect and abuse cases, leading to deaths that could have been prevented. I've also investigated legal loopholes in transportation guidelines involving migrant workers and done countless quick-turn investigations on policing policies. My investigation into collaboration between a local sheriff's office and Homeland Security officers resulted in a state civil rights probe.

 

​I've received the Distinguished Breaking News Coverage and Distinguished Investigative Reporting awards from the New York News Publisher's Association multiple years. From the Syracuse Press Club I've won the 2022 Newcomer Award, Best Multimedia Story, Best Print Spot News, Best Breaking News.

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In August of 2021, I graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University with a Master's of Investigative Journalism. During my time in Arizona, I completed a group investigation into child sex abuse in Indian Country entitled "Little Victims Everywhere." We worked on the piece for three months and it ran on the AP Wire and was published in the Washington Post, Toronto Star, and Indian Country Today. While at the Cronkite School, I was a national politics intern for The Arizona Republic and worked as a graduate assistant in the Digital Audience Lab.​

 

 In May 2020, I graduated Cum Laude from Mercer University in Macon Georgia with a Bachelor's in journalism and minors in French, history, and media studies. While at Mercer I was extremely involved with the student paper, The Cluster and also worked as a preceptor for two years, earning the title Preceptor Scholar. ​

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In my free time, I enjoy traveling and have been to Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Mexico, Peru, and Guatemala. I also love spending time in a hammock with a good book, and camping.