Meet The Banner journalists covering Prince George’s County

Today, we launch our Prince George’s County bureau, and I’m excited about what that means for our news organization — and the region.

In just under four years, The Banner has distinguished itself as an award-winning newsroom that takes big swings, filling a hole readers and residents have told us they want filled: more accountability reporting, more oversight and a better representation of their lived experience.

That’s what I’m hoping you’ll experience as you get to know us.

I’m proud that we’ve won a Pulitzer Prize for our coverage of the overdose epidemic in Baltimore, that we were just recently named a Pulitzer finalist for our coverage of busing problems in the city, and that our major investigations on the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker and child sexual abuse at Greater Grace World Outreach have been recognized as standout journalism.

For the past couple of months, I’ve had the privilege of assembling a team of award-winning journalists to help cover local government, education, health, children and families, food and culture. The team will cover the county with all of the care, rigor and resolve that Prince George’s County deserves.

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to our team of journalists.

Hau Chu

Hau Chu is a food, arts and culture reporter at The Banner. Before The Banner, he spent nine years at The Washington Post writing about life and oddities across the D.C. region, primarily for the Local and Features/Style sections.

Ashley Clarke

Ashley Clarke joins The Banner after working at ProPublica as an engagement reporter, contributing to investigative projects on health, scientific research, environmental issues, the federal workforce and education. Before that, she worked at Bloomberg Industry Group, the Center for Public Integrity and NBC4 in Washington.

Clarke grew up in Baltimore and graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts, where she focused on visual arts, and the University of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in Arabic. She’ll cover breaking news.

Ben Conarck

Ben Conarck joined The Banner as a criminal justice reporter in July 2022. Previously, he worked for the Miami Herald as a health care reporter and led the newspaper’s award-winning coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. He’ll cover local government.

Mitch Ryals

Mitch Ryals has been hired as The Banner’s editor in Prince George’s County. He comes to The Banner from Washington City Paper, where he has overseen editorial operations as managing editor since 2021. He also served as City Paper’s Loose Lips reporter. Before City Paper, he covered law enforcement and criminal justice at the Pacific Northwest Inlander in Spokane, Washington.

Ryals is originally from St. Louis and earned his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, from which he also holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and English.

He will join The Banner on May 26.

Ellie Silverman

Ellie Silverman worked at The Washington Post, where she covered protest movements and extremism. She also reported on retail, breaking news and general assignment stories at The Philadelphia Inquirer, her hometown paper.

Silverman graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she earned a degree in journalism and reported for the Diamondback. She’ll cover education.